Here are some simple solutions to avoid the fall.
 

1. Make sure that the pathway is clear. If there’s a throw rug, if there’s couches, or there’s chairs in the walkway, clear them. Now we’re using some durable medical equipment like a wheelchair or a cane or a walker – the house isn’t the same house it used to be; now there’s a device involved. We have to make sure that device is able to get through the hallway, into the bathroom, and maybe we need to go ahead and install some grab bars or recommend a company to do that so we’re being proactive.

2. We want to also make sure the lighting is okay in the house. Most falls happen when we’re going to the bathroom at night, you know. So we have to make sure either we have a sensor light or we’re using technology that knows that when we get up the lights turn on. Maybe a Clapper would be great. Some things like that; really easy ways to make sure that we’re taking some simple solutions to prevent anything from happening.

3. Also, having your nurse go ahead and check make sure that the proper dosage and frequency of medication is being monitored. If you want to hire a nurse to do that, we have independent contractor nurses that can do that. We also refer to geriatric care management who have nurses that do medication assistance and make sure that everything is on point with the medications because certain medications can upset or make people groggy or feel uneasy. We want to make sure that while we’re on these medications that we’re being very careful because we can take simple steps to make sure that we’re not overmedicating, and a nurse can do this. So you want to definitely double-check with your nurse, your doctor and are making sure that we’re on the proper medications, the proper dosage. If there’s any sort of feelings, like dizziness, we need to report that right away and go ahead and call your doctor, the nurse registry, or agency and let them know that we kind of had a feeling of a little bit of vertigo, which can be very scary stuff. So we want to make sure that we’re addressing this; and that, heaven forbid, there’s a fall, we’re using all the technology, all the simple and safe solutions to try to help prevent this from ever occurring in the first place.