5 Easy, Inexpensive Ways to Instantly Improve Home Safety

Neenah, WI, February 20, 2015 --(PR.com)-- February is Low Vision Awareness Month. According to the National Eye Institute, low vision means that even with eyeglasses and other corrective measures, people can have difficulty with everyday tasks. Among the elderly, low vision can contribute to trips, falls and loss of mobility. Falling and fear of falling is a concern for those with low vision, but making a home safer doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, according to Lynn Wilson, Founder of The CareGiver Partnership (www.caregiverpartnership.com), a national retailer of incontinence products and other home health care supplies.

“Each year, one in three adults age 65 and older falls, and of those, up to 30 percent suffer moderate to severe injuries,” Wilson says. “Ninety percent of people want to remain in their own homes, where they’re comfortable and have privacy and dignity. Yet, falls or fear of falling are the cause of up to 40 percent of nursing home admissions.”

Wilson offers five easy, inexpensive ways to prevent falls by instantly making a home safer:

1. Remove tripping hazards such as clutter, throw rugs, cords and furniture in pathways. Move furniture and cords so they’re more safely located around a room’s perimeter. If area rugs are necessary, attach them to the floor with heavy-duty, double-sided tape.

2. Add adequate, even lighting throughout the home to avoid shadows. Lighting should be sufficiently bright but not cast glare. Reduce glare with frosted bulbs, indirect lighting, lamp shades and partially closed window coverings. Use nightlights in bedrooms, bathrooms, halls and stairways to help prevent falls.

3. Install bathroom safety features such as grab bars, nonskid mats, bath benches and raised toilet seats. Grab bars and raised seats not only help prevent slips and falls, they also help a senior with limited mobility move with less pain and strain.

4. Apply peel-and-stick color-contrasting strips in the home to help visually define objects and changes in height. Ideal placement includes stair edges, where walls meet floors, thresholds and floor transitions, and the edges of tubs and showers.

5. Make sure your loved one gets regular personal health and safety assessments to help reduce risk of falling. Lifestyle factors for successful aging in place include a healthy diet, plenty of vitamin D through sunlight and supplements, weight-bearing exercise on a regular basis, proper-fitting footwear and eyeglasses, limited alcohol use, and being aware of medication side effects.

“Please download our free 25-page, full-color guide, which contains $20 in discounts on home safety products. The guide focuses on all the important areas of fall prevention: risk factors, indoor and outdoor safety at home, use of personal safety tools, health tips, and what to do after a fall,” says Wilson. “For example, did you know the bathroom is one of the most dangerous rooms in the house and where many falls occur? It’s not surprising when you consider bathrooms have slippery surfaces and often are used in the middle of the night when lighting is low.”

Visit The CareGiver Partnership at www.caregiverpartnership.com to download the fall prevention guide, learn how companies like Stander are helping seniors remain independent, and to access hundreds of free articles on its blog.

The CareGiver Partnership is a national direct-to-consumer retailer of home healthcare products for incontinence, diabetes, nutrition support and more. In addition to providing products and services that help caregivers and loved ones maintain personal dignity since 2004, the company also offers an online library of more than 1,500 family caregiver resources and personal service by experts in caregiving. Call 1-800-985-1353 or visit online at caregiverpartnership.com.