What In-Home Care Services Are Best After a Fall?
Every year, an estimated three million older adults fall and have to go to the hospital for treatment. So many issues can lead to a fall, including medication side effects, obstacles at home, illnesses, muscle weakness, and diminished vision.
Your mom fell and hit her head. Her doctor says she has a concussion and recommended that she has people available in certain situations to ensure she doesn’t fall again. In-home care services were mentioned. What can caregivers do to prevent future falls?
Make Sure She’s Eating the Right Foods
In-Home Care Bellaire, TX: Seniors and Falls
Your mom’s fall may have been related to her lack of muscle strength. Ask her doctor if malnutrition played a role. Many older adults fail to get enough protein, which is needed for strong muscles.
If your mom isn’t eating the right foods, it’s important to have someone preparing meals for her. Your mom can have a caregiver available to prepare meals and snacks and help her shop for the foods she needs.
Have Someone With Your Mom After Taking Daily Pills
If your mom’s pills cause side effects like nausea, dizziness, or lethargy, make sure someone is with her after she takes them. Her caregiver can fill her glass, sit with her until the side effects diminish, and help her when she needs to stand up and go to the bathroom.
Take Her for an Eye Exam
Take your mom to have her eyes examined if she hasn’t been in the past year. If she has and her vision loss is sudden or happening quickly, schedule another appointment.
If her vision is worsening and she’s tripping on items because of it, it may be time for a new prescription or to get glasses or corrective eyewear for the first time.
Check Out Your Mom’s Home
Go through the rooms in your mom’s home and look for fall risks. In the bathroom, make sure she has grab bars in the shower and on the wall outside of the shower where she steps out. She also needs grab bars on the side of the toilet and behind it.
If she has wooden or laminate floors, make sure she doesn’t have throw rugs that have no rubberized backing. She could step on one and slip. Check that the flooring is level and not loose. Carpeting shouldn’t be loose or ripped. If it is, it’s time to replace her flooring.
Check the rails on stairs inside and outside the home. Deck stairs, porch stairs, and stairs to different levels in her home all need to have sturdy rails that are secured to the studs in the walls and not just the sheetrock.
If you’re not confident about checking her home, talk to a home care specialist. One service you can request is to have a safety check completed. You’ll get a checklist of what should be changed or upgraded.
If your mom has fallen, you need to look at what led to the fall and make sure she’s supported. Don’t let her fall again. Hire in-home care aides for fall prevention measures.
If you or an aging loved one are considering In-Home Care in Bellaire, TX, contact the caring staff at Personal Caregiving Services at 832-564-0338. Providing Care in Houston, Bellaire, West University Place, Katy, and Sugar Land and the surrounding areas.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/falls/facts.html
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