If you are fearful of your elderly parents falling and getting hurt while living alone in their home, then you are right to be concerned. The risk of falling increases with age and if your parent falls, then they could become seriously injured. The good news is there are many simple home modifications you can make to proactively prevent your parents from falling, including each of the following:

Inspect Your Parents' Home for Potential Tripping or Slipping Hazards

Assuming your parents agree to let you modify their home to make it safer, take a few minutes to walk throughout the home and inspect it for potential slipping or tripping hazards. You are looking for any of these things sitting on the floor:

  • area rugs
  • electrical cords
  • excess furniture
  • pet toys
  • potted plants

All of the above items should be removed because they pose tripping hazards. Also, you should look for magazines or newspapers placed on the floor. If your parents don't own a magazine rack, buy them one to put near their recliner. This way, they can keep their periodicals off the floor, where they pose a slip-and-fall danger.

Place All Items Within Reach of Your Parents

To prevent falls from step stools or ladders, you should check all of the closets and cabinets in your parents' house to make sure all of your parents' needed items are within their reach while they stand on the floor. Items stored up too high should be moved down or removed from the living space completely. Your parents won't fall off a ladder if there isn't anything up high they need to use a ladder to reach.

Modify the Bathroom for Maximum Safety

Since bathrooms are one of the leading areas for elderly falls to occur, you must make some serious modifications to make your parents' bathroom much safer for them to use. For example, you need to install a walk-in style tub or shower to make access to bathing easier and safer. Additionally, if your parents have mobility issues, then you should install a shower chair and hand-held shower head. TwinCity Stairlifts has some great options you might check out.

You should install grab bars and hand rails near the shower and toilet to give your parents a steady place to hold on if they become unbalanced. This is very important, because grabbing a towel rack is a sure way to both damage a bathroom wall and end up on the floor. 

Finally, if your parents have a hard time getting onto and off the toilet, then you can install a raised toilet seat to make the process easier.

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