September is Fall Prevention Awareness Month. If you are helping a senior relative age in place, now is the right time to take a short walk through their home with a checklist in hand. One in four older adults fall each year, and most falls happen at home. Let us explore what caregivers can do to assess and improve home safety for their senior loved ones.
Assessing the Home for Safety
Do the checklist with your senior relative. Start at the front door and move room by room. Look for what a slower walker or someone using a cane would actually catch a foot on. The CDC's home fall-prevention checklist is a good printout to bring along. Ask your loved one to point out where they feel unsteady.
Quick Fixes You Can Handle
Use a checklist to find and fix home hazards.
- Rugs: Remove loose rugs.
- Cords: Tape or reroute lamp and phone cords out of walking paths.
- Lighting: Add nightlights in the bedroom, bathroom, hallway, and kitchen. Replace dim bulbs with 800-lumen LEDs. Keep a flashlight on the nightstand.
- Stairs: Sturdy handrails on both sides. Non-slip treads. Never store anything on any step.
- Bathroom: Grab bars beside the toilet and inside the shower, screwed into studs. A rubber mat in the tub. A raised toilet seat if getting up is hard.
- Kitchen: Move daily-use items to counter or waist-level shelves. Do not use step stools.
- Outside: Fix the loose brick on the front walk before winter freezes it into a permanent hazard. Salt the porch when ice comes. A motion-sensor light over the driveway.
Longer-Term Modifications
Some changes need structural work. A walk-in shower with a bench, replacing a step-over tub. Wider doorways for a future walker. A stairlift if the bedroom is on the second floor. Better lighting on the basement steps. Ramps at the front and back doors.
Some Kansas homeowners qualify for weatherization and accessibility grants through the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation. The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority can point you to programs. Kaw Valley Independent Living Resource Center in Lawrence helps too.
More on Fall Prevention
Ask your senior loved one’s doctor to review medications; a common blood-pressure drug plus a mild sleep aid can double dizziness. Get an annual vision exam. Ask about a physical therapy referral for balance training. Encourage strength work at a community center; even one class a week matters.
Footwear: No slippers with slick soles, no walking in socks on hardwood, no going barefoot to the mailbox.
Keeping Homes Safer
Senior Helpers Lawrence, KS works with families in Lawrence, Bonner Springs, Eudora, Linwood, and Lecompton on home safety, medication reminders, and daily support that keeps older adults steady on their feet. If you need help for your senior loved one this September, contact us to learn how we can personalize support to your needs.