How to Keep Your Elderly Loved Ones Safe This Winter
With careful preparation and some extra support, you can help to keep your loved ones safe and well throughout the season.
As winter rolls in, it brings the darker nights, colder temperatures and increased health and safety risks, especially for the elderly. With careful preparation and some extra support, you can help to keep your loved ones safe and well throughout the season.
Poor Visibility and the Risks of Trips
As the days get shorter and visibility becomes more challenging, it’s important to keep houses well-lit and try and reduce your amount of travel in the dark if possible. If your loved ones do need to venture out in the evening, then enlisting the help from a family member, friend or carer can ensure that they are keeping safe in the dark and can assist with anything from transportation to dog walking.
Adding night lights to light up dark corridors and hallways can help to avoid trips and increase visibility in dark rooms and corridors. You can also get a little light that hooks under the toilet seat and lights up the toilet bowl when you stand close to it, which can be handy in dim lighting. Keeping walkways clear and free of clutter, as well as electrical wires (during the Christmas period especially), can also help to avoid falls.
Footwear Matters
As the weather gets cooler, people may start to wear slippers and thicker socks around the house. There are so many different types of slippers around, but did you know that the shape you choose is very important?
The slippers with no backs that you can slip your foot in and out of can be convenient, but they can make you much more at risk of having a fall. This is because the slipper is able to easily fall off your foot mid-step. They also encourage you to shuffle slightly when walking, and if the floor is uneven or there is something in the way, this can cause trips and falls.
How Medications Can Affect Balance
As you get older, you may be prescribed multiple medications for different ailments. Sometimes your GP may add on extra medications to counteract the side effects of others and before you know it, you may be on eight to ten medications every day. This is known as polypharmacy and individuals who are on four or more different medications are estimated to be at double the risk of falling than those taking four or fewer different medications.
You can ask your GP for a medication review, and they can look through the different medications you’re on and see if they can reduce them or swap some for others.
The Benefits of Home Help During the Winter
Home help from a team of trusted Care Professionals can make all the difference to your life in the wintertime. They can ensure you stay comfortable and warm, offer companionship during the long winter evenings and assist you with staying active.
With the paths beginning to get icy, you may feel more comfortable going out and about with a carer who transports you in the car and can be nearby, if you don’t feel very confident walking alone.
It’s important to stay properly hydrated and well fed during the colder months and your carers can help with this, making you nutritious home-cooked meals and tasty drinks for you to enjoy.
Having a trusted carer nearby means that your loved ones can enjoy winter safely, without feeling isolated or anxious about daily routines. A warm home and caring support can make all the difference this winter.
Contact our friendly team on 01395 200600 and discover the support that we can offer you and your loved ones, from a couple of home help a week to full on live-in care, we are here for your every need, to keep you in your own home for as long as possible.