As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, the risk of household accidents and injuries increases. Still, you can modify the home environment to make it safer for your aging parent. In turn, your senior loved one with Alzheimer’s can keep living in the comfort of home with a measure of independence. Here are five strategies that can help.
1. Understand How Alzheimer’s Affects Home Safety
Alzheimer’s disease skews a person’s cognitive, emotional, and physical faculties. By putting yourself in your loved one’s shoes, you’ll be more aware of potential household hazards. Here are the ways Alzheimer’s jeopardizes safety:
- Memory – Forgetting how to use personal items and household appliances
- Sensation – Decreased hearing, vision, depth perception, and temperature sensitivity
- Orientation – Impaired sense of place, time, and direction, resulting in getting lost
- Behaviors – Suspicion, confusion, and fear that can spawn irrational behaviors
- Physical abilities – Loss of balance, strength, and coordination
2. Make a Clear Path through the Home
Floors & Stairs
To a person with Alzheimer’s, a black entry mat can look like a hole. Thus, avoid using dark-colored doormats. Meanwhile, throw rugs can shift, causing a senior to slip and fall. Either remove throw rugs or anchor them with double-sided carpet tape. Another option is installing carpet throughout the home.
If you prefer the gleam of hardwood floors, apply a coating of nonskid wax. Also, ensure your loved one always wears slippers and shoes with good traction. Walking barefoot on wood and tiled floors is too risky.
Place electrical cords under furniture, against walls, or beneath carpeting. This way, your loved one won’t trip on them.
If your loved one can take stairs reasonably well, mark the edges with tape in a standout color. If your loved one has compromised balance, install a gate at the bottom of the staircase to prevent access.
Locks & Nightlights
Alzheimer’s can make it difficult to understand locking mechanisms. Thus, your loved one could lock the bathroom or bedroom door, forget how to open it, and be trapped inside the room. To prevent this calamity, remove the door locks. Also, install motion-activated nightlights throughout the home, especially leading to the bathroom.
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3. Use Contrasting Colors to Help Your Loved One Distinguish Objects
Furniture
Alzheimer’s impairs the ability to discern colors, making it challenging to navigate the home. You can help your loved one by decorating with furniture and accents in contrasting colors.
Tableware
Meanwhile, eating is a complex process that can be confusing, frustrating, or overwhelming. You can make mealtimes easier with tableware in opposing colors, such as blue and orange. This way, your loved one can readily differentiate cups from dishes.
Bathroom
If a toilet color matches the tile, it can be difficult to distinguish. Instead, apply a brightly colored fabric or foam toilet seat cover to make the toilet more noticeable.
Grab bars can help your loved one use the bathroom safely, promoting confidence and independence. Install them beside the toilet, in the tub, and on the shower walls. Grab bars with contrasting colors are the easiest to see.
4. Reduce Physical Distractions in the Home Environment
Shadows
Since Alzheimer’s can impair vision, shadows may seem frightening. If your loved one often gets disoriented after sunset, the fear of shadows can intensify.
Dim lights cast the most shadows while making it harder to see. Keep rooms, hallways, and stairways well lit during the day. To minimize shadows, use large light fixtures positioned high in rooms. Light-colored walls also prevent shadows by reflecting light.
Messy Rooms
Try to keep floors and furnishings clutter free. When accessories are strewn about, they distract a person with Alzheimer’s, competing for the person’s attention. Moreover, cluttered floors are a fall hazard.
Mirrors
Large wall mirrors may cause confusion. Your loved one’s reflection can seem like that of a stranger. Mirrors can also make it difficult to determine what’s real. Avoid having large mirrors in the home.
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5. Protect Your Loved One from Electrical Shocks & Skin Burns
Electrical Outlets
If your loved one touches an electrical device or outlet with wet hands, he or she could get a shock. Water conducts electricity, transferring the current to wet skin. An electric shock can cause slight tingling, a severe burn, or even cardiac arrest.
Ensure each bathroom outlet has a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). This way, the outlets will turn off if they get wet. Additionally, cover unused electrical outlets with tamper-proof plugs.
Water Temperature
Alzheimer’s can reduce sensation, dulling your loved one’s tactile awareness of heat and cold. To prevent scalding, set the water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, consider installing an automatic temperature-controlled water faucet. This fixture dispenses a mixture of cold and hot water at the safe temperature you set. Thus, your loved one can’t get burned. Moreover, the faucet is motion-activated. When the sensor detects movement, the tap water flows automatically. Your loved one won’t need to turn any faucet knobs, making water use much easier.
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