Ordinary Household Items Can Pose Serious Threat to Seniors

By: LivHOME | 1,019 Shares 130 Reads

One in Three Seniors Suffers Falls Each Year, LivHOME’s Steve Barlam Explains in New Podcast Episode - Prevention Can Be as Simple as Removing Clutter, Installing Proper Grab Bars

June 19, 2012 // Franchising.com // LOS ANGELES – Electrical cords, stacks of magazines, dirty floors, bunched area rugs and poor lighting can cause older adults to stumble and fall, leading to injuries ranging from minor cuts to far more serious hip fractures and head trauma. This is especially true for seniors whose balance, vision or cognitive abilities are impaired.

In fact, one in three adults age 65 and older suffers from falls each year, warns Steve Barlam, Chief Professional Officer of LivHOME. Often, these falls lead to emergency room visits, an increased fear of falling and reluctance to take part in healthy physical activities such as walking.

Barlam discusses these risks and how to reduce them in Episode 30 of The Senior Care Podcast by LivHOME, titled Home Safety.

“Simple household clutter – for example, electrical cords or piles of newspapers and magazines – is perhaps the most common danger for seniors at home, often causing those with an unsteady gait or weak eyesight to trip. Many seniors are also prone to slipping on tiled or soiled floors, and can take a sudden tumble when stepping onto an area rug that isn’t tacked down or when reaching for unsteady furniture, towel bars and banisters,” Barlam says.

“Prevention, however, is as simple as removing clutter, ensuring that rugs have non-skid backing, keeping floors clean, maintaining adequate lighting to improve visibility and installing sturdy grab bars in bathrooms and hallways. Wearing non-skid footwear and keeping eyeglasses on at home is also key. And while these measures are helpful to all seniors, they’re especially important for those suffering from dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment,” Barlam adds.

The Home Safety episode also addresses the issue of home security, focusing on ways to protect vulnerable seniors from intruders and prepare them for fire and other natural hazards. It can be found at The Senior Care Podcast’s homepage, www.livhome.com/podcast. Listeners can subscribe via RSS feed, email or through the iTunes store. The episode has a runtime of 17 minutes, 18 seconds.

About LivHOME

LivHOME is one of the nation's largest providers of professionally led at-home care for seniors. The company is dedicated to finding solutions that enable older adults to remain in their homes as long as possible. Based in Los Angeles, LivHOME delivers high quality at-home care throughout California as well as Arlington, Va., Atlanta, Austin, Tx., Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Silver Spring, Md. and The Woodlands, Tx. LivHOME franchise locations are available across the U.S.

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