The first thing you need to do is look around your home and make sure you clear up any clutter. You need to be able to easily move around your home without having unnecessary items laying around that could block your ability to move around safely.
Next, look at your floors and ensure things that are likely to trip you over are removed. Things like rugs, mats and items that have fallen on the floor. Things on the floor create the most likely fall hazard. If you are unsteady on your feet, it is best to start using your walker around the house so that you have something to lean on and provide support as you mobilise.
The next good thing to do is add handrails near toilets, showers and bathtubs to prevent slips. Also adding rails where you must step down onto a landing or porch where there is a step up or down. This gives you something solid to hang onto as you mobilise up or down a single step where there may be a little bigger step.
You could also consider relocating your primary bedroom to the ground floor to reduce the reliance on stairs. Adding non-slip mats in the bathroom, kitchen and other tiled areas. This reduces your risk of slipping and falling due to hard slippery surfaces.
Rearranging items on your shelves to ensure you have easy access without needing to stretch or step on stools to reach things. Declutter your home to create space. You may want to create new storage solutions for this purpose.
All these things will help you to stay safe and independent in your own home and prevent you from having to enter a nursing home. Let’s face it, we all want to stay in our own homes for as long as we possibly can.
