Consider seniors during National Home Safety Month
June is National Home Safety Month … and senior care experts fromMonmouth County are encouraging adult children to add a simple, yet important duty to their spring cleaning checklist: conduct a "look and see" inspection of their parent's home.

Chances are good they will uncover hidden dangers that could mean the difference between their parents staying at home or moving out.

Seniors and their families might want to look for the following opportunitieswhen performing a home safety review.

• Examine dark pathways, corners and other areas where seniors regularly walk or read. Make sure all areas of the home have adequate lighting. Timed and motion-sensor lights outdoors can illuminate potentially dangerous pathways. Inside, consider Ott- Liteswhich provide a high-intensity beamfor doing detail work. Make sure that hallways and stairs are properly lit

• Avoid monochromatic color schemes. Contrast can help seniors with failing eyesight better navigate their homes. Large red and blue buttons over hot and cold water faucet controls will help prevent dangerous mistakes. A dark green or brown toilet seat and vinyl tape around the shower will make those fixtures more easily distinguished. Kitchen countertops should contrast with floors as well

• Look for ways to reorganize. Mom always put the black stew pot under the stove to keep the kids from breaking it. Perhaps now it belongs on a shelf beside the stove. And who says the eggs must go in the egg tray of the refrigerator? Perhaps it's easier for dad to handle them if they're stored in the meat tray. If that hallway table,which has always been a permanent fixture, is becoming a dangerous obstacle, relocate it

• Look behind closed doors.Many seniors will close off parts of a house they no longer use. Be sure to check those areas regularly for mold or water damage. Don't close vents to crawl spaces

• Look for ways to simplify your senior's life. Talk to your parents about why and how they do things then look for ways to simplify their lives. If your mom's immaculate floors are nowregularly dirty, think about howshe's been doing that job all these years and offer options.

• Consider security. Think about the potential dangers that lurk within your loved one's home. Lock-in switches on thermostats and stoves will keep seniors with dementia andAlzheimer's disease fromharming themselves. Help them manage in their environment by installing a cordless intercom

• Keep an eye out for damage. Watch for signs that a senior is adapting his or her behavior to the environment. Look for towel bars or windowsills that are pulling away or shower curtains that have torn from seniors using them to grab onto

• Look for ways to make entries safe. Make sure that railings into a home are in good repair and that steps and sidewalks are not damaged. Or eliminate steps altogether. Make sure that doors into a home can be set to stay open for carrying groceries and other items in and out. Install remote control locks

• Is clutter taking over? Messy conditions and brokenitems are importantwarning signs. Remove area rugs and stacks of newspapers andmagazines, or other potential obstacles

• Contact a professional senior-care service, such asHome Instead SeniorCare,which can conduct a home safety review and serve as a second set of eyes for older adults.

This list was adapted from the home safety checklist developed by Home Instead Senior Care and enhanced in cooperation with the SUNY Buffalo School of Architecture IDEA Center, the National Association ofHome Builders- Remodelers CAPS (Certified Aging in Place Specialists), the National Aging in Place Council, and aging-in-place consultant Louis Tenenbaum.
Phyllis Venancio
Home Instead Senior Care
Eatontown