Tips For Helping The Seniors In Your Assisted Living Facility Avoid Falls
Falling as a senior citizen can have serious consequences. Falling down can cause seniors to break their bones and can seriously compromise their health. Here are five tips that can help you minimize falls among the seniors who live in your assisted living community. These tips will help you be a more responsive caregiver.
Learn Which Seniors Are At Risk Of Falling
The first thing you need to do is learn which residents are more likely to fall. These are the residents that you need to keep an extra eye on and whom you need to offer additional assistance to around stairs and steps, and with moving items.
Know Which Residents Are Prone To Falling
The first thing you need to know is which seniors have fallen down before. Seniors that have fallen before and suffered injuries are more likely to fall again, so knowing who has fallen will help you keep an eye on these seniors.
Know Which Residents Have Cognitive Impairments
Next, find out which residents have cognitive impairments. Residents who have cognitive impairments such as dementia will not have the same cognitive reasoning skills as residents who are not impaired. Their compromised cognitive skills make them more likely to fall.
Know Which Residents Have Diabetes
You also need to know which residents have diabetes. As you age, diabetes can become even more difficult to manage. Many older diabetes suffers may end up with either foot or leg injuries that could compromise their balance and their ability to stay upright.
Knowing who you need to keep an eye on will help you prioritize which seniors to assist.
Minimize Risks Around Your Assisted Living Facility
The second thing you need to do is make sure that the environment of your assisted living facility is set-up to minimize the risk of falls. Here are a few environmental issues you need to keep your eyes open for.
Install Hand Rails
There should be handrails on all staircases in your facility. Additionally, rails should be installed on the walkways for the residents in your facility. If there are not enough handrails in place, talk to your manager about installing additional ones.
Remove Clutter
Make sure that there are not items that your residents can trip over in the halls of your facility, such as books or papers. If you work inside the residents living areas, help them clean up clutter to reduce the risk of falling.
Add Lights
Seniors need lots of light in order to see well and avoid tripping. Make sure that your facility and that the residents quarters are all well lit, and that light bulbs are replaced immediately.
Secure All Rugs
It is easy for seniors to trip over throw rugs. If your facility or senior's living quarters contain throw rugs, make sure they are securely held in place with double-sided tape. This will keep the rugs from slipping and the seniors in your care from falling.
By minimizing the risks in your facility and in your senior's living quarters, you will reduce the chance that they will fall because of environmental factors. Additionally, by knowing who is at a great risk of falling you will have a better idea of who needs additional assistance. Being proactive about reducing the fall rate at the senior living facility you work at will increase the quality of life and health for the seniors you work with. Contact a local assisted living provider, like Cokato Charitable Trust - Cokato Manor, for more help.
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