It is believed that home is where the heart is found. As such various authors have confirmed older adults, staying at home is a great privilege. Home is regarded to be a central place that is significant for daily life. Older adults dwelling in their specific homes always have a high level of independence and more freedom, but sometimes it imposes risks in their lives. This sanctuary depicts a sense of danger to older adults because of falls. According to the CDC statistics, one-third of older adults aged 65 years are subjected to unmanaged falls, which cause danger to their lives. The reports from the CDC raise concerns about the formulation of effective strategies that can reduce falls among older adults. It is essential to consider home modifications, for example, eliminating tripping hazards, improving lighting, and installing grab bars in the bathrooms. Therefore, it is important to prioritize home modifications purposely to reduce falls and enhance comfort for older adults.
Consequently, eliminating tripping hazards is one of the significant ways in which the risk of falls among older adults is reduced immensely. At home, preventing trip hazards can be effectively done by clearing clutter from the floors or stairs. According to Stark et al., falls occur among older adults in various ways, such as stepladders, loose mats and rugs, spills on the floor, and rains (Stark et al. 2021, p. 21). At-home tripping hazards are the c common ways that pose dangers and risks of falls to old adults. The risk of falls always occurs in older adults with balance difficulties or physically challenged (Stark et al. 2021, p. 21). To ensure that falls are reduced at home for the safety of older adults, it is paramount to eliminate clutters, place loose rugs and mats appropriately, and ensure the floor is free from spills. Therefore, by adhering to safe ways, older adults can easily live comfortably and confidently.
Lighting at home plays a significant role. For example, it provides comfort at night, improving a person’s overall mood and stabilizing the circadian rhythm. Improving lighting as a home modification reduces the chances of falls among older adults. According to research by Tholking et al., poor lighting is dangerous for the safety of older adults (Thölking et al. 2020, p. 4). As such, when older adults are in a dark environment, the chances of encountering falls are maximized. According to the article, poor lighting contributes to falls among older adults (Thölking et al., 2020, p. 7). As adults age, they encounter poor vision because of low light illumination. The aging eyes of older adults make them confront new environmental challenges, as poor lighting at home causes fatal falls since it acts as an obstacle to effective vision. It is more significant to ensure that lighting is improved wherever older adults are by using bright bulbs and task lighting for better vision.
Bathroom grab bars are the effective and simplest ways to prevent slips and fall. Falls can also be prevented effectively by installing grab bars in the bathrooms for older adults. Grab bars function in such a way that if an older adult has a loss of balance or dizziness. In the article “Consumer perspectives on grab bars,” Installation of grab bars reduces the chances of falls by 41% among older adults (Levine et al. 2022, p. 10). In daily living, bathrooms are perceived to be the most dangerous place that can easily cause falls for older adults and everyone. Installing grab bars in bathrooms, more so in washrooms, prevents falls and helps older adults to gain support for balancing. Generally, grab bars are affordable and, therefore, easy to be installed, which prevents unnecessary falls among older adults.
In conclusion, falls have raised various concerns among older adults, which requires much attention. However, home modifications effectively enhance safety and support for older adults from falls. Lighting improvement, installing grab bars, and eliminating tripping hazards indicates that older adults are safer. For caregivers and health professionals, it is important to ensure that policies are articulated purposely to reinforce safety at home by considering all ways of form modification. To recap, adhering strictly to enhancing safety at home for older adults significantly improves their lives and well-being.
References
Levine, I. C., Lau, S.-T., King, E. C., & Novak, A. C. (2022). Consumer perspectives on grab bars: A Canadian national survey of grab bar acceptability in homes. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.915100
Stark, S., Keglovits, M., Somerville, E., Hu, Y.-L., Barker, A., Sykora, D., & Yan, Y. (2021). Home Hazard Removal to Reduce Falls Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults. JAMA Network Open, 4(8), e2122044. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.22044
Thölking, Thessa W., Lamers, Eef C. T., & Olde Rikkert, Marcel G. M. (2020). A Guiding Nightlight Decreases Fear of Falling and Increases Sleep Quality of Community-Dwelling, Older People: A Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation. Gerontology, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1159/000504883
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