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Stepping Up Senior Safety Over The Holidays

We’re officially less than a month away from Christmas! Many Canadians are currently in the midst of preparing for the special end-of-year holiday season by rushing through malls to pick up gifts and planning big dinners to fill the bellies of family members and friends. Many of those families include elderly individuals. And, now more than ever, they require a little extra special attention.

With so much going on, at this time of year, it can be easy to forget that our elderly loved ones require our care. This is especially true if they’re coping with mobility issues. During the holiday season, we tend to get busier – leaving the home more often to shop or pick up groceries. We also tend to have more get-togethers, dinners and parties. This can be a bit much for some seniors to handle.

First things first – have a discussion.

Be sure to let your elderly parent know about all of your holiday plans. If you live with your parent, the importance of this conversation cannot be understated. You want to ensure that he/she is always comfortable in the home. If you don’t live with your parent, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open so that he/she doesn’t feel alone and isolated. The holiday season is a time when being alone hurts the most.

“You can call your parents in the morning when going to work,” suggests AgingInPlace.org, “You might even decide to call them after work hours. You should even do more if any of them has lost a significant other. Losing a significant other means there is a greater risk of depression. Your everyday call will help suppress any form of boredom. Your parents will even make receiving a call from you a part of their daily to-do list.”

Secondly – clean up around the house.

The holiday season is one when decorations go up all over the home. While it’s always a fun idea to create a festive atmosphere in your home, you don’t want to present any hazards to the health of those who live within it. For seniors, those hazards are often found by way of things on the floor that could cause a slip or a fall. Be sure to tuck away all wires and cords when putting up the Christmas tree and any other lights or electronic holiday decor.

It’s also important to consider the other potential home hazards that may occur during the holidays. They include dried out trees. If you’re planning on using a real tree for your Christmas celebration (we’d advise against it), be very aware that it could present a fire hazard. You also want to avoid overloaded extension cords. With all of the extra lights going up, it can be easy to forget that it’s dangerous to have too many plugs going into the same outlet.

Finally – eliminate the risk of falling.

With slips and falls topping the list of reasons for injuries among seniors, this holiday season may be the perfect time to invest in a wheelchair for your elderly loved one. Preventing a slip and fall could literally save the life of an elderly person. At LifeCare Mobility Solutions, we offer both power and manual wheelchairs in order to suit the specific requirements of each of our customers.

For more information about the various wheelchairs we offer, call us at 416-267-9800 or email us at info@lifecaremobility.ca. You may also contact us by filling out the form on our Contact page!

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