| These home safety tips are important guidelines for | | | | come in many different lengths and can be mounted |
| how to organize your bathroom if you are taking | | | | vertically, horizontally, or diagonally and must be |
| care of elderly parents. Replacing bathroom towel | | | | secured into a stud. |
| racks with grab bars can help to prevent falls in the | | | | - Use a bath transfer bench to prevent having to |
| elderly. Installing a handheld shower will help to | | | | step over the edge of the tub. This is a bench that |
| maintain independence. Providing safe care for the | | | | sits in the tub and outside of the tub straddling the |
| elderly person in your home might even require | | | | outer wall of the bathtub. It also provides a seat |
| complete removal of the bathroom door. | | | | while showering. |
| When an elderly person is injured more than 50% of | | | | - Use a safety bath mat to prevent slipping or apply |
| the time it happens in their own home. The bathroom | | | | one of the liquid nonskid coatings on the floor of the |
| is a good place to start with fall prevention in the | | | | bath tub. |
| elderly because it is one of the most dangerous | | | | - Install a hand held shower wand. This promotes |
| areas in the home. Wet slippery surfaces can easily | | | | independence in reaching all body parts for hygiene |
| create a fall risk and a number of activities that are | | | | care without bending or reaching. |
| performed in the bathroom require muscle strength | | | | - Install a raised toilet seat or replace the existing |
| and dexterity. Getting on and off a toilet or in an out | | | | toilet with one of the newer higher seat heights. I |
| of a bathtub can be a challenge if you have declining | | | | can almost guarantee that in the future the majority |
| muscle strength in the legs or mobility impairments in | | | | of toilets will be at this new height. It is simply easier |
| your knees and hips. | | | | to get on and off. |
| Falls in the elderly cause significant morbidity and | | | | - Make sure the bathroom door opens outward. If |
| mortality. Fall related injuries in Canada, among those | | | | not remove the door completely and install a curtain. |
| 65 and older, have been estimated to cost the | | | | This may sound like a drastic measure but think |
| economy $2.8 billion a year. The cost of one | | | | about what might happen if your elderly parent falls |
| fractured hip is estimated by Health Canada to be | | | | in the bathroom. Will you be able to open the door |
| between $24,400 and $28,000 in direct health costs. | | | | and get in there as a first responder? Will the |
| How to Organize Your Bathroom for Home Safety - | | | | paramedics be able to get in there if your parent is |
| Tips to Prevent Falling | | | | lying on the floor? |
| It doesn't matter where you may be taking care of | | | | When implementing home safety tips for taking care |
| elderly parents the bathroom can be dangerous place. | | | | of the elderly the welfare of the person first must |
| Here are some steps you can take to prevent falls | | | | come first. In the event that the door must come |
| and improve safety in the bathroom. | | | | off privacy accommodations can be made by using a |
| - Remove all bathroom towel racks - yes all of them. | | | | heavy curtain hung from a rod that is firmly secured |
| If you are taking care of elderly parents with mobility | | | | to the door frame. You can even use velcro type |
| challenges you may have already noticed that it is a | | | | fasteners to fasten the curtain to the wall if extra |
| natural instinct to grab onto furniture or any surface | | | | privacy is needed. |
| at about waist height. Bathroom towel racks that are | | | | Taking care of elderly parents can become especially |
| mounted on the wall or the back of the door are in | | | | challenging when mobility issues create a safety risk. |
| just the right place but they are not strong enough | | | | These home safety tips can be used in your |
| to hold up an elderly person and may break. | | | | bathroom to prevent falls in the elderly and improve |
| - Replace all those towel racks with safety grab bars. | | | | independence. In the event that your parent needs |
| That way your elderly loved one can hang a towel | | | | assistance, these bathroom alterations will also make |
| there or grab onto it for safety and it will stand up. | | | | it easier for an attendant to help with bathing and |
| Grab bars are also useful mounted near the tub, the | | | | toileting. |
| toilet and even inside the shower or the tub. They | | | | |