The first thing is you can do is look out all the side effects of the medication being taken both prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs. They can make you feel dizzy or sleepy. Either can lead to a fall. Being aware of the side effects and how the medication effects you can help eliminate or reduce the risk of falling. Consult with your primary physician with any concerns to side effect medications causes.

The second thing you can do is remove clutter. As you may see if your loved ones we start to hang on to everything. I will cover hoarding an another episode. You may notice old magazines, newspaper or mail piling up. Extra clutter in the house can cause slips, trips or falls. Extra clutter can cause confusion or block a safe walkway.

Along with removing cutter you can remove rugs and electrical cords. Trust me I know that know one wants to give up throw rugs, but throw rugs do pose a large risk for slips, trips and falls

The third may take a little more work but the pay off is reducing the risk of slips, trips and falls. Relocating all items to reachable shelves, not having any household item too high or too low. If items are too high to reach we tend to climb on furniture or grab a step stool, both of those are not ideal situations when we are trying to avoid slips, trips and falls. Having everything we needs reachable and assessable will stop the risk on any climbing or breaking out the step stool.

The forth thing you can do is add grab bar to any area of the home that is concerning. Starting in at the bathroom, having grab bars around the toilet and in the shower, are very important. If your loved one is already suffering with limited mobility adding a toilet riser will help make the bathroom a lot safer area. You can add grab bars down a long hallway or in stairways.

The fifth thing you can do is add a rubber mat or some sort of slip resistant in the shower or bathtub. The shower can be very dangerous because the water makes everything so much more slippery. You can also add a shower bench or chair so you don’t have to worry about your loved one having to stand for the entire shower.

The sixth thing you can do is make sure that your loved one has easy excess to turning the lights on at night. If they getup in the night to use the bathroom or get a drink and its dark, they can misstep very easily. Having a light on the night stand or even a flashlight on the night table to help with light.

The seventh thing we can do to help keep our loved ones from falls, is helping them stay active. Just like the saying ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’. You can look into your local gyms,YMCA’s or park districts for senior group, activities and even outings. Keeping active can help keep our loved ones for any slips, trips or falls.

The eighth thing you can do is make sure that your loved one has well fitting and comfortable shoes to wear both inside the house and outside the house. Comfortable shoes with good arch support can make all the difference.

The ninth thing you can do is have your loved ones vision and hearing check.
Seeing a hearing and vision specialist regularly is very important as we age.

The final tip I have for today is having a cane or walker ready of if your loved one is feeling unsteady on their feet. Bring a cane or walker when you have to walk longer distances than normal.

Thank you so much for listen today and I truly hope that these 10 tips to help avoid slips, trip and falls help you and your loved ones stay safe and fall free. Please remember that if your loved one does fall to let their primary doctor know right away even if they don’t think they are hurt, we can always see the damages caused by a fall.