How can you keep your elderly mother safe at Home

If you have the responsibility of taking care of your elderly mother at home, keeping her safe can become quite a task. An elderly person usually tends to have lower mobility levels and lesser hand-eye coordination. This, along with a host of health problems that usually start to affect people in their old age are likely to compound the problem of how to keep your old mother safe in your household. However, you need not get stressed over the fact anymore as the below mentioned list of safety tips and precautions can help ensure exactly this.

1. Make sure that all the lights of the house are not switched off at night and the house is not plunged into total darkness. Your elderly mother may have to get up multiple times at night to visit the bathroom because of a weakened bladder and there is a huge risk of falls if her path is not well lighted. There should be proper lighting in the corridors and the bathroom lights should ideally be left switched on throughout the night.
2. If your house is a multi storied one, it is very important that there are sturdy guardrails on the stairs that can be held and can provide support. The path of the stairs should also be well lighted during night time to prevent bad falls due to low vision.
3. You should make sure that the floors of your bathroom, kitchen or any other part of the house are not wet and slippery. In case they are, they should be immediately dried up as this is the leading cause of injuries for old people. The bones of elderly people are relatively brittle and tend to crack easily with a fall on a slippery floor. You should consider covering up the floor with rugs or using slip resistant flooring options.
4. You should not leave any naked wires inside your house that can give electric shocks to anyone who touches them. You should also make sure that things are not kept lying strewn on the floor here and there as your old mother can easily trip on these and get seriously injured.
5. There should be proper mechanisms in place to help your mother in case of emergency. There must be fire extinguishers in different parts of the house that are in working condition. She should also be given your personal phone number and made to memorize it so that you can be informed in case of any such emergency. The contact numbers of local fire departments and police stations should be displayed at a prominent place in huge letters.
6. If your mother is infirm or physically disabled in any way, she should have access to a phone or a maid at all times who can provide help whenever required. A doorbell can be fitted inside her room so that she does not have to sit and wait for someone to come in case there is a need for something.

The above mentioned safety tips can greatly reduce the chances of injuries and can also help to make the life of your loved ones a lot easier and more enjoyable.

One of the most difficult and frustrating things about aging is the loss of independence. If you have an older loved one who is struggling to remain self-sufficient but having difficulty living alone, you may want to consider purchasing a medical alarm system.