You worry about your mom and dad being safe as they age at home. Their older home has multiple levels, including a basement laundry room. Arthritis, muscle weakness, and chronic health conditions make it harder for them to get around on their own.
While you can help out on weekends, you worry about home safety when you’re not there. How do you heighten home safety for them? Removing clutter is often the first thing families think of, but it’s not enough. Here are the other factors to consider.
Research Their Medications
Some medications are known to make you feel queasy. They can make you lightheaded and drowsy. Eating certain foods, taking over-the-counter supplements and remedies, or drinking alcoholic beverages with certain medications increases the risks of adverse side effects.
Go over the medications your mom and dad take. See if there are contraindications listed. If there are, make sure your parents know what they have to avoid. For example, your mom’s blood thinners may be less effective if she eats foods that are high in vitamin K, such as asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, and kale.
Arrange Rooms to Eliminate the Risk of a Fall
Look at the home layout. Your mom and dad have an older cape. Bedrooms are on the top floor, but the bathroom is on the main floor. If your parents need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, they have to walk downstairs in the dark. If they turn on lights to be safer, it may wake them up, making it hard to go back to sleep.
If there is a room downstairs that you can convert to a bedroom, do so. It’s better to eliminate trips up and down the stairs at night.
Check Out Home Care Services
If your parents are prone to falling, support from home care aides is essential at certain times. It comes down to the times when your mom or dad is most likely to fall.
Your mom takes a blood thinner that makes her lightheaded for a couple of hours. She should have a caregiver with her after she takes it. She has the caregiver to watch her and make sure she’s okay on stairs, while walking around the house, or when taking a shower.
Suppose your dad has fallen in the past and can’t stand in the shower since breaking his ankle. A caregiver can be there to help him step out of the shower.
With home care, your parents have the help they need with ambulation, medication reminders, meals, household chores, and more. Call to learn more.
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring home care in Phoenix, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!