Elderly Care in Chapel Hill NC: Fall Prevention for Seniors with Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s affects more than 5 million people throughout the United States. This disease can impact your parent in a wide variety of ways, including increasing their fall risk. Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries among seniors, making it extremely important that you not only recognize the risks that your senior faces, but take the steps to reduce those risks and protect your parent from the potentially devastating consequences associated with them.

Use these tips to help you reduce fall risk for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease:

Ensure that they choose good-fitting, supportive footwear that does not cause them to slip or trip. This is important both when they are in the home and when they are not.
Ensure that they have physical support when walking, transferring, and performing other movements, especially if they are also dealing with arthritis, dizziness, or other issues that might compromise balance.
Talk to their doctor about their medications and find out if they might increase dizziness and other fall problems.
Ensure that their home is decorated in a way that they can easily distinguish individual pieces of furniture, steps, walls, and other obstacles.
Remove items that might be confusing or overwhelming, such as carpeting with a very busy pattern or decorative items.
Secure doors that lead to staircases so your parent does not go through them thinking that it is another room or location.

Starting elderly care for your aging parent can be an exceptional way to boost their quality of life, support more activity and independence, and encourage greater health and well-being as they age in place. For you as a family caregiver, an elderly home care services provider can offer additional benefits. The highly personalized services of a care provider can fill any care gaps that might exist in the efforts that you put forth for your parent, ensuring that all of their needs are met even if you have personal challenges and limitations that keep you from being able to fulfill them in the way that they need and deserve. This can not only allow you to take a step back and handle other needs and obligations in your life, but also focus the energy and attention that you can give to your parent in the most effective and beneficial way possible. This can ease your stress and create a more meaningful and beneficial relationship for both of you.