Keeping Seniors Safe In The Bathroom

The Centers for Disease Control report that over 21 million people in the United States alone incurred injuries in the bathroom within a timespan of just one year. If you have an elderly person who lives alone or in an assisted living facility like GENACTA Home Care, it's worth keeping the following tips in mind to help keep them safe while bathing and showering.

1. Choose the Best Time for Bathing

For safer bathing and showering, choose a time when the senior is alert and in the best physical condition. Your elderly loved one may be taking medication that makes them drowsy or foggy-headed. Have your senior wash up before taking any medication that may adversely affect their ability to move safely or reason well.

2. Install Safety Rails

If your senior does slip in the bathroom, it's crucial that they have something more sturdy than the towel rack to grasp onto for support. Safety rails and grab bars are designed to support the weight of a person without pulling out of the wall. Install these along the shower wall, as well as the wall near the sink.

3. Lay Down Rubber Grip Mats

Water can make any tub or floor slippery, which can cause your senior loved one to slip suddenly. Lay down non-skid mats in the tub. Instead of an area rug for the floor in front of the sink, use rug tape and a rubber grip mat.

4. Consider a Sit-Down Shower

Seniors can easily become fatigued while standing in the shower, which can cause their legs to become unsteady. Sit-down showers come as a single unit and can be installed in any standard sized bathroom. If your senior is living independently, consider investing in one of these units that are specially designed to alleviate fatigue from standing while showering.

5. Remove the Bathroom Door Lock

If your loved one needs assistance in the bathroom, it's critical that you are able to get to them as quickly as possible. Encountering a locked bathroom door is frustrating and unnecessary. After assuring your senior loved one that you respect their privacy behind a closed door, explain your reasons to suggest removing the lock.  Using a standard household tool box, you can easily replace a locking doorknob with one that doesn't have locking capability.

Implementing these ideas will help to ensure that your senior loved one doesn't become part of the bathroom injuries statistic.