Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Is Your Home A Safe Haven? - making homes undamaging for disabled persons

We think of our homes as havens--places where on earth we are safe and immobilize from the unpredictable, mercurial and sometimes downright hazardous "real world." More repeatedly than not, however, this security is unfair. In fact, most of us live surrounded by homes that are fraught with masked dangers that could potentially rationale us serious injury. Indeed, studies show that accidents are the sixth foremost cause of disappearance in folks over sixty-five years of age and falls account for 2/3 of these death. Moreover, at least 1/3 of falls result within someone getting hurt occur surrounded by the home or in other au fait surroundings. The good communication is that research also shows that modifications to make your home safer can dramatically ease your risk of falling.


How to Make You Safe


In order to minimize the probability of falls and subsequent injuries you must first rule out any health issues that may contribute to your risk of falling. In the medical literature, these factor are often call intrinsic factors.


Intrinsic factor are those things that affect how your body works. Examples of intrinsic factors include, but are not predetermined to, blood pressure abnormalities, poor illusion and/or hearing, the effects of medication and overall impediment and/or inflexibility. In order to optimize your sanctuary you should ideally have an annual physical nouns by your doctor that includes an assessment of your vision, audible range, balance and strength. It is also high-status to have your doctor review your medication. Simple changes contained by medications, eyeglasses or even a short time physical or occupational psychoanalysis to improve set off and strength can have an extremely large impact on your personal safety both at home and within the community.


How to Make Your Home Safe


The medical literature also focuses on extrinsic risk factors for falls. These are things that may affect your faculty to move about undamagingly, but don't have anything to do beside your personal health. For example, the presence of throw rugs or slippery hip bath mats, clutter contained by your home, poor lighting and the lack of seize bars surrounded by the bathroom are all considered extrinsic risk factor that contribute to people falling. Because these risk factor have to do beside the environment, they are nearly always correctable.


The Game Plan


Since most of us enjoy difficulty viewing our homes objectively, it may be worthwhile to have a physical or work therapist come to your home and spawn specific recommendations give or take a few how to make your home safer. This is commonly covered by medical insurance if your doctor recommends a "home call round." However, regardless of whether a therapist is available to come to your home, here are some basic guidelines for home safekeeping that you can use to improve access and sanctuary in your home:


Stairs/Entrance


Stairs and entrances are scandalously dangerous areas surrounded by home. It is critical to keep entrances free of clutter and to destroy doorway thresholds and scatter rugs as much as possible. Outdoor walkway and stairs should also be clear of clutter and need to be shoveled and sand when inclement weather occurs. A railing on both sides of indoor and outdoor stairs greatly improve safety. Nonskid cartridge on top and colored tape on the border of the stair (a good optical clue -- especially if you have poor vision) are also favourable. If you have difficulty going up and down stairs, consider installing a stairlift indoors and a ramp outside.


Kitchen


Ideally, a gas stove is safer than electric because you can see when it is rotten and it cools quickly after anyone turned off. However, an unscrew gas flame can be a real peril, too. It is important to avoid cooking when wearing clothes that are loose or may bring back in the means of access of your heat source. When cooking, hold commonly used items within assured reach. Items that you use day by day (e.g., pots and dishes) can be placed on the counter. For those things that are stored in cabinets it is best to hold them at waist height and toward the front of the cabinet tidy to avoid stooping or reaching. There are many commercially available compartment accoutrements that you can use on your counters or in your cabinet to both improve how the space is organized and how attractive it looks.


Bathroom


Bathrooms can also be high-risk areas because of the slippery surfaces and commonly small rooms. Many people fall over when holding onto a towel bar or pushing on the sink orderly to stand from the toilet. This obviously is not nontoxic to do. Instead, professionally installed grab bar, particularly subsequent to the toilet and in the tub or shower, will make negotiate your bathroom much easier and safer. Generally a short bar (12") vertical on the wall as you enter the tub and, ideally, a right angle clutch bar on the far wall is recommended. Another simple and inexpensive preference is to use a tub rail that clamps to the side of the tub -- these can usually be installed in need professional assistance. Moreover, this rail can be re-positioned and provides a grip for both entrance and exit to the tub.


Shower bench recommendations will depend on how much you weigh and how you move going on for. The features of the chair (e.g., armrests, surface type) should be considered as okay as width, depth and largeness of the chair. A hand-held shower offer more control over directing the flow of water and adjust the water warmth. This also allows you to get into the tub short having to step directly into the stream of hose thereby reducing your chances of slipping. To increase safety when exiting the shower, a nonskid bathmat cut to a come to a point width can be utilized.


Getting on and rotten the commode can be a real treat with contempt, and it is important to do this as undamagingly as possible. A raised toilet form can make a dramatic difference. The just the thing height is typically 17-19 inches from the floor, but may come and go depending on your height. Raised toilet seating can be purchased in various retail stores and recently nearby have be some very nice option that may make this more aesthetically pleasing than those available previously. These seats also propose a variety of option, including armrests, adjustable height and different form surfaces. If you use a wheelchair, the height of the toilet form should equal that of your wheelchair to allow for a level lateral verbs. Another option is to elevate the entire toilet from the floor. A plumber wants to install this, but it does not significantly change the toilet appearance.


Bedroom


Bedrooms should be devoid of clutter and hold adequate lighting, outstandingly for nighttime purposes. Light sensitive night lights that automatically turn on can make getting up along with the night much safer. Ideally, you should sleep on the side of the bed closest to the bathroom or doorway. Minimizing clutter and ensure ample space around the bed is also important. Comforters or blankets should be all right fit so they are not dragging on the floor, as this is a tripping hazard.


Living Room


Living rooms repeatedly have heaps tripping hazards including small table, magazine racks, stacks of newspapers, raise carpets, etc. It is key to make your living room clutter free and beside adequate room to move roughly speaking.


Seating should include a firm, supportive chair (with arms is preferable). If the form is too low, a carpenter can increase the height by adding together wooden blocks under the bench legs; however, this must be done so that the chair is out of harm`s way and the blocks don't stick out potentially causing you to trip. If the form is too soft, adding plywood underneath the cushion can make it firmer. A lumbar support cushion can be purchased surrounded by many retail stores and recurrently will provide additional support.


For electronics such as lights, radios and television, remote controls will help you to avoid getting up and down unnecessarily. Lamps should be confidently accessible or when possible, activated by remote control switches or auditory cues.


Computer Station


If you spend time using a computer, it is vital to make sure you are Dutch auction and comfortable when doing so. The computer station components should be easily accessible and wires and cords should be removed from walking areas and tack down. The chair you use should be a righteous height for you and you should know how to sit and stand safely.


What to Do if You Fall


Not every plummet can be prevented. So, it is wise to own a plan in place that will work if you do arise to fall. Perhaps the most celebrated safety consideration is emergency response. There are specific emergency response services -- most of these hold you wear a pendant or bracelet next to a button that you can press to summon help if you spill out.


Home alarm companies also offer emergency response services that work by a similar system (e.g., pending or bracelet with a button). If you hold a home alarm system, you can often make a payment this service. Another security judge is to carry a cordless phone near you during the day.


If you can't efficiently get up from the floor, any a physical or occupational psychoanalyst can teach you the best channel for you to do this in the event that you do stumble.


Obviously this would be a preventative measure and the desire of learning a "floor verbs" would be so that if you ever fell, you would know the easiest and safest way to grasp up.


The statistics on falling and sustaining a serious injury are sobering indeed. However, it is comforting to know that there are some simple things that we can do to spawn our homes much safer in lay down to protect our loved ones and ourselves.


Contributing writers are members of the International Rehabilitation Center for Polio at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts (www.polioclinic.com): Laura A. Ryan, OTR/L, Maria H. Cole, OTR/L, and Dorothy D. Aiello, PT

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