According to The State of Home Safety in America, a study that the Home Safety Council conducts, the leading cause of unintentional deaths caused by injuries in the home is falling. About 5.1 million injuries are caused in the home by a fall, and of those injuries, nearly 6,000 lead to someone dying.
The bathroom, says the Council, even if the smallest room in your house, may have the most hidden (and sometimes not-so-hidden) dangers. Think about it. In the bathroom, there is the possibility of drowning, getting burned, falling, getting poisoned, and getting shocked. No matter the age of the person or people using the bathroom, the Council has put together a list of safety tips to keep in mind. The tips range from quick and easy to implement to completing a total bathroom renovation.
To Safety-Proof Your Bathroom:
- Install a grab bar by the bathtub, shower, and toilet
- Put non-slip strips in your tub and shower
- Put a bath mat next to the tub and shower (preferably a bath mat with a non-skid bottom)
- Make sure your bathroom floor stays clean and dry
- Clean up spills immediately
- Use a nightlight (consider getting one that turns on automatically when it is dark in the room)
- Know what in your bathroom are poisons (e.g., cleaning supplies, medicines)
- Read labels on boxes and bottles you have in your bathroom, and look for words like caution, warning, poison, and danger
- Never take medicine or cleaning agents out of the containers in which they came and put in a different container
- Set your water heater at no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit
- Never leave a lit candle burning unattended
- Remodel your bathroom, including installing a walk-in bathtub
- Add a no lip shower
Implementing some of these tips will be easy, but others may require you to seek professional help. If you’re thinking about remodeling your bathroom so that an elderly adult has an easier time using the shower/tub, keep in mind that the easiest fix is your tub itself.
The higher the tub, the more likely someone can get hurt getting in and out of it. The lower the tub (and the lowest would be a walk-in tub or shower), the more likely you can prevent a fall from occurring.
What we at Independent Home can do is make sure your aging loved one never has to worry when he or she steps into the tub again, which means you never have to worry. Our walk-in tubs are designed to make sure the elderly, and men and women with mobility handicaps, can safely enter and exit the bathtub. Call us at 800-373-4322 any time and we can get back to you when it’s convenient for you.
