{"id":955,"date":"2014-05-06T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/?p=955"},"modified":"2015-06-05T06:30:24","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T10:30:24","slug":"in-home-safety-tips-for-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/articles\/in-home-safety-tips-for-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"In-Home Safety Tips for Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_957\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-957\" class=\"wp-image-957 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/senior-holding-onto-stairway-handrail-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"safety for seniors on stairs\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/senior-holding-onto-stairway-handrail-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/senior-holding-onto-stairway-handrail.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-957\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Take the necessary precautions around your home for safety<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Advancements in medicine have contributed to us living longer-healthier lives, and now more than ever, many people are healthy enough to live independently well into their twilight years.\u00a0 However, as we age, changes to our bodies necessitate that we take some safety precautions around the house that were not necessary before.<!--more-->\u00a0 For example, older bodies naturally begin to lose some core strength, making it more difficult to keep balance and increasing chances of falling.\u00a0 Making a few small changes around the house can make it a safer place for you.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Purchase a medical alert system.\u00a0 This guarantees that even if you are home alone, you will have instant access to medical assistance should you need it.<\/li>\n<li>Inspect your entire home for any possible tripping hazards, such as throw rugs, frayed carpeting, broken tile flooring, or loose electrical cords and remove or fix those items.<\/li>\n<li>If your staircase is not carpeted, you should carpet it to provide more traction when you are walking in socks.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t already have handrails that run the entire length of your staircase, on both sides, install them.\u00a0 You should also make sure that all staircases are well lit.<\/li>\n<li>Place a nightlight in your bathroom so you can easily find the light switch in the middle of the night.\u00a0 Make your tub skid-proof by using a bath mat with a non-slip bottom. Consider installing grab bars in shower, tub, and near the toilet that you can use for stability.\u00a0 Install locks in your bathroom doors that can be opened from both sides, in case of an emergency.<\/li>\n<li>Set up a schedule to regularly check the batteries in your medical alert buttons, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors and replace them when needed.\u00a0 This should be done every six months at minimum.<\/li>\n<li>In the kitchen, make sure all work areas are well lit. Avoid wearing any long or loose clothing when you are cooking on your stovetop.\u00a0 Consider purchasing a tea kettle with an automatic shut off to prevent an unintended fire.\u00a0 Make sure sharp knives are properly stored in a wooden block to prevent unintended cuts.\u00a0 To go easy on your back, store any heavy objects at waist level rather than overhead or on the floor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Make sure the areas in your home where you store and take your medication are well lit.\u00a0 Remember to double check the labels on all medication bottles before taking your allotted dose.\u00a0 Be sure to dispose of any medication which has expired.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advancements in medicine have contributed to us living longer-healthier lives, and now more than ever, many people are healthy enough to live independently well into their twilight years.\u00a0 However, as we age, changes to our bodies necessitate that we take some safety precautions around the house that were not necessary before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[130,27,25,21,129],"acf":[],"modified_by":"ArticlesTips","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1673,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions\/1673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medicalalertadvice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}