Elder Care in Wellington FL

June is National Safety Month. When it comes to your aging parent’s elder care journey, safety is one of your most important considerations. Whether your parent is alone, under the care of their elderly health care services provider, or with you, ensuring safety is something that will help your parent live the happiest, healthiest, most fulfilling quality of life as they age in place.

Some ways that you can evaluate your parent’s home and routine to ensure their safety during National Safety Month and throughout the rest of the year include:

• Reducing fall risks. Each year millions of older adults end up in the emergency department due to injuries suffered from falling. For many of these seniors, extended hospitalizations, extensive treatment, and dramatically reduced quality of life will result. Reducing fall risks throughout their home and in their daily activities is critical to making sure that your parent stays safe, healthy, and active throughout their aging years. This can include simple changes such as removing loose floor coverings and ensuring they wear well-fitting, slip-proof shoes. It can also be more extensive, such as installing grab bars in the bathroom and having the elder care provider available for hands-on transferring and bathing assistance.

• Ensuring home safety. Basic home safety considerations are even more important when it comes to aging adults. Make sure that your parent has smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the home and that their home has effective security measures in place. Review these measures regularly and supplement them as necessary.

• Take the keys. It may not be something that you look forward to, but there will likely come a time in your care efforts with your aging parent that they need to hang up the keys. Staying safe while driving is increasingly difficult as seniors get older. This is caused for many reasons, including diminished visual and auditory acuity, slower reflexes, confusion and cognitive issues that make understanding and interpreting situations more difficult, and physical challenges that make it more difficult to handle the actual movements of driving. When having the conversation about your aging parent no longer driving, it is important to emphasize that they will not be losing all of their independence. Remind them that you and their elderly health care services provider are there to give them the safe, reliable transportation that they need to get to where they want and needed to go when they want and need to be there.

• Prepare for emergencies. Safety is not just about helping to prevent serious issue. It is also about knowing how to respond if an emergency or dangerous situation does arise. Create an emergency plan that includes establishing a meeting place and mapping out escape routes from the house. Run “drills” when you are in the home and encourage your parent to run them with their elder care provider. This should include getting out of the house from several different rooms and meeting in the meeting place. Also work together to put together an emergency kit to protect them in the event of a weather emergency, power outage, or other issue.

If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Professional Elder Care in Wellington, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff at Assisting Hands Home Care at 561­-829­-3080 Today.