I had lunch with a friend that is having difficulty recovering from a fall in her home. So I decided to write about some reminders for all of us.
I included this chart from the National Safety Council to illustrate that across ALL ages, falls are #1 in nonfatal injuries and #2 in deaths. So we all need to do what we can to prevent falls.
Fall Proof Your Home
Here is the summary from “18 Steps to Fall Proofing Your Home” by Scott Trudeau, National Council on Aging.
The full article can be found at https://www.ncoa.org/article/18-steps-to-fall-proofing-your-home.
Reminders
When assessing your home, remember to look for these three things:
- Good lighting
- Clutter
- Easy access to the things you use the most
Also, keep in mind that you always want three points of contact no matter what you are doing. If you are walking up steps or maneuvering in and out of your shower, for example, you want to have two hands and one foot or two feet and one hand in contact with something sturdy.
Bottom Line
We all have the tendency to put things off, especially when we are thinking about preventing a problem that hasn’t happened yet.
This can be a problem, so I challenge you to make at least one change right now that will help prevent a fall in your home.