Helping seniors is a rewarding job, but it also implies responsibility and proper education on the matter. Many seniors enjoy spending their peaceful time in the house they’ve always lived in. However, their time in that space can be compromised when certain health conditions interfere.
Living with a senior can be overwhelming if there’s no attention to specific details that might affect their well-being. Whether you turn to an Aging Life Care Professional or, by any circumstance, you are the only person who can take care of a senior. We share four tips for helping seniors and creating a safer environment for them.
These recommendations will help you and your loved one have a safe living environment, considering the physical and mental health of the people involved.
Provide safety in the bathroom area, avoiding falling hazards.
Falls are the most common cause of injuries for seniors. Many elderly patients have the blessing of reaching a certain age while enjoying a healthy mental condition. Sometimes, however, the physical condition is not at the same level, and it’s important to fix everything you can to maintain the physical condition as optimum as possible.
- Focus on fixing water-related issues in the bathroom area. This is one of the most dangerous spaces for seniors to fall or suffer an injury (besides the Kitchen area).
- Provide safety in these areas by installing adequate features: railing, anti-slip flooring, comfortable space for walkers or wheelchairs, and good lighting.
- Consider making arrangements for the faucet and bathroom set, adjusting them to their needs (height of the bathroom sink and toilet, comfortable shower area, and easy-to-use faucet).
Keep your loved one away from the kitchen area, and provide safety if it’s impossible to do so.
The kitchen area might be dangerous if there isn’t proper safety. Our best recommendation for helping seniors is to keep the elderly away from the kitchen. However, we understand the difficulties of telling grandma that she can no longer cook something special for the grandchildren when they visit.
Now, whether the senior lives alone or your loved one can’t stay away from the kitchen, we recommend the following:
- Make sure there’s always proper ventilation and fix lighting issues: keep as bright, fresh, and clear as possible.
- Keep the gas cylinder outside the property at all times and pay constant attention to the escape valves.
- Protect the countertop area with the proper material to avoid sharp edges.
Provide safety in the bedroom area!
Many elderly patients most of their time in the bedroom, sleeping and resting. The best thing you can do is create an environment that allows them to move comfortably around the space.
- Good lighting is key. Install nightstand lamps, ones that are easy to switch on/off.
- If it’s possible, try to maintain the bedroom area properly ventilated. This will keep the area fresh and free of odors and smells.
- Proper room furniture: make sure they have an orthopedic mattress adjusted to their needs. Also, an ergonomic armchair or rocking chair will ensure comfortable and safe postures and an ache-free rest.
Avoid staircases and steps, and keep seniors on the ground floor area.
Inevitable modifications need to be made when living with a senior. One of them is distributing the house to fit their needs best. The ultimate goal is to avoid falls and accidents. Here are our recommendations for helping seniors with this issue:
- Consider creating an open-space concept for your house where your loved ones can move around easily, especially if they use a cane, walker, or wheelchair.
- Ideally, you would want to keep the area flat and steps-free, but we understand that re-structuring the living space can be challenging and expensive. We recommend marking steps and slopes around the house, sometimes, they can forget about them, and the consequences can be fatal!
In some cases, seniors prefer to live alone, and if their mental and physical condition is not too deteriorated, they will most likely continue to do it. It’s also possible that no one can stay with them 24/7. What can you do when someone you love is reluctant to have a person assist them daily or live in a community space, like a Homecare Facility?
What you can do to help:
- Visit them regularly: If you live nearby, take some time to stop by after work and spend some time with them on a Sunday. If they have pets, keep an eye on the pet waste situation to ensure they are not overwhelmed, and the home is safe and clean.
- If you can’t visit them regularly, don’t be afraid to ask for help from a friend or neighbor. The idea is to keep an eye on hygiene and the overall condition of the areas we mentioned above. The best way to avoid an accident is prevention.
- Try to stay in touch with them, whether it’s via phone call, video call, messaging… any channel that allows you to communicate with them and check on everything.
If you’re looking for an Assisted Living Facility in the Oceanside/North San Diego area, we can recommend Oceanside Hills Senior Living, Pacifica Senior Living Oceanside, Las Villas de Carlsbad, and Brookdale Oceanside. All of these facilities are members of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.
Bio-One is here for you
Bio-One provides effective care on services like cleanup and disinfection, hoarding cleanup, medical waste disposal, rodent droppings, feces/urine cleanup, gross filth cleaning, and more. We are prepared to take on any situation, no matter how extreme it might be! We have experience helping seniors and customers in their most difficult times of need.
Here’s the story of Alesia, an Aging Life Care Manager who needed an urgent hoarding cleanup for her client. We responded promptly and let her know that they were in good hands:
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Bio-One of Oceanside is the #1 Disinfection, Sanitation, and Decontamination Company in North San Diego County, providing professional, industry standards services in all kinds of extreme scenarios:
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HELP FIRST, BUSINESS SECOND!
Bio-One of Oceanside springs into action to assist survivors when a traumatic event occurs. We work with local law enforcement, emergency responders, victim advocacy organizations, hoarding task forces, apartment communities, and insurance companies to ensure that you receive the greatest service feasible.
We have been an independently owned and operated business since August 2020 to help our community through difficult and unexpected situations. Our certified technicians are caring, compassionate, and discreet, and we are ready to help you in your most significant time of need.
We are proudly serving North San Diego and surrounding communities!
Bio-One is a proud member of the Southern California Rental Housing Association and Carlsbad, Oceanside, and Vista Chambers of Commerce. Bio-One serves all of San Diego County and neighboring regions, including Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, Fallbrook, Escondido, San Marcos, and Bonsall.
We also serve the Southern Orange County cities: San Clemente, Dana Point, Rancho Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Ladera Ranch, San Juan Capistrano, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Woods, Laguna Beach, Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, Irvine, and Costa Mesa.
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