How to Prevent Falls within the Home

Slipping or falling in the home can be devastating for elderly home owners. If you are caring for an elderly relative or concerned about the safety of an elder
in your family, by taking a few safety precautions you can help to prevent falls.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Non slip treads
• Light globes
• Night lights
• Flashlights
• Batteries

1. Begin outside the home by checking all garden lighting,
   replace any burnt out or dim garden lights with soft white light bulbs.
   Do not forget outside lights on porches in deck areas.

2. Moving inside the house, think about installing night lights
   These can be purchased from most department or hardware stores. You can either purchase a night light that plugs directly into the electrical outlet, or you may choose to purchase one that is battery operated.
   These can be easily mounted and are often portable.
   Consider having both types in the home for protection
   during power outages. Remember to check a regular basis that the batteries on the night lights are still working.

3. Keep a flashlight in an easily accessible place.
   You may wish to keep more than one flashlight in the home in different areas. Make sure that the batteries are not flat and that you have the extra batteries available

4. Clear your Hallway and stair areas, start by removing any clutter that is stacked or stored in these areas. It is important that you keep these areas free of clutter. In the dark it is easy to accidently stumble and trip over clutter on the floor.

5. Use handrails when taking the stairs, it is easy to misjudge
   a step and tumble and hurt yourself. The handrail is an
   added safety precaution.
   
   Place non skid tread or reflective tape to the edges of your stairs,
   these are easily installed and well worth the time and effort
   needed to install them. Most reflective strips are peel and stick, so
   you would just need to measure and cut to length the strip you need
   and then adhere the tape to the step.

6. Remove scatter or throw rugs on the floor, they can roll
   up and cause you to trip, or in the case of polished or wooden
   floors you may step onto a throw rug and slip and fall.
   
   Use non skid treads or double sided tape underneath area rugs
   this gives an added stability to the rug and could well prevent
   the rug from rolling up, making it a safety hazzard

7. Wipe up instantly any spills on the floor and then dry the area
   thoroughly using a dry towel. If you have just recently mopped the floors think about placing a temporary barrier showing that the floor is wet.