www.StayInPlace.org
DAASE
  • Welcome
  • News & Views
  • About
    • Mission + Vision
    • Code Of Ethics
    • Basics
    • Leadership
    • Need More Info?
  • Hire A DAASE Member
  • Welcome New Members
  • For Members Only
  • Big Picture Ideas

Keeping Safe At Home Not Just During Halloween. 

10/23/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
From Huffington Post:

This Halloween, don't be tricked by things that go "boo" around the house. Falls and fires make up the lion's share of fatal and non-fatal household injuries for older people... but a surprising number of "hidden hazards" can send them to the hospital or worse. Here are five significant -- and preventable -- goblins that can spook people aging at home:

1. Carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the U.S. Fire Safety Administration, each year, more than 150 Americans die from accidental non-fire related carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from faulty, improperly used or incorrectly vented fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, stoves, lanterns, water heaters and fireplaces. Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, nausea and drowsiness. Older adults (along with children and people with heart and lung conditions) are at greater risk due to their physical condition. Plus, older people are more likely to misuse heaters; turn on the oven for warmth; find it harder to maintain the furnace, fireplace and water heater; and live in older houses with older systems and, perhaps, fewer alarms. They also might not hear an alarm sound or they might sleep through it.

Trick or treat: Put alarms near carbon-monoxide sources and bedrooms. Look for models that also emit flashing lights or that can vibrate the bed to wake up sleepers. Odorless carbon monoxide makes you even more groggy.

2. Food poisoning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year 48 million persons get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne infection and illness in the United States. Many of these people are children (who have immature immune systems) or older adults (who have weakened immune systems, or are on medications that weaken their resistance) who can't fight infection normally. Older adults must be vigilant when handling, preparing, and consuming foods. That's harder if you can't shop as often as you used to, and you can't sniff out rotten food, read the past-due date, or afford lots of fresh food. (Plus, sometimes food that's gone bad doesn't look or smell bad.) Thrifty older people are also loathe to throw things out.

Trick or treat: The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture gives this basic advice:

Clean - Wash hands and surfaces often. 
Separate - Don't cross-contaminate. Keep raw meat and poultry apart from cooked foods. 
Cook - Use a food thermometer to be sure meat and poultry are safely cooked. 
Chill - Refrigerate or freeze food promptly.

3. Medication overdose or interaction. Older people can take so many prescription drugs (plus over-the-counter drugs and supplements, sometimes unknown to their doctors), that overdosing and drug interactions increasingly send them to the hospital... or worse. Older people don't absorb drugs as well as younger people and their livers and kidneys don't get rid of toxic waste as easily. Some drugs also interact with food.

Trick or treat: To help prevent problems, keep an updated list of medications and take everything in a bag for a doctor's review at least once a year. Talk to the doctor about complications or side effects, and do not renew prescriptions unless instructed. Set up a reminder system to help take the proper dose on the recommended schedule. Also toss drugs that are no longer need or past their expiration dates.

4. Scalding injuries. Hot liquids can burn like fire. Steam heat is a real peril for thin older skin. Older people are vulnerable because their reaction times are slower; they might not be able to get out of the way of hot liquids or steam as quickly as a younger person. With weak hands or tremor, they might spill hot drinks on themselves, or have problems taking heavy cooking dishes out of the microwave oven.

Trick or treat: Age-proofing to make the kitchen safer will help, as will insulating under-sink pipes with which you might make contact (for example, when seated in a wheelchair). Be sure to set the hot-water heater to at most 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius).

5. Shock. Houses with older wiring, run-down appliance cords, and wet areas without ground-fault circuit interrupters, may expose older people to the risk of electrical shock. That's hard on people who might have weak hearts. Electrical shocks can also cause burns, as well as seizures severe enough to throw people to the ground. When that happens, brittle older bones are more likely to break. 

Trick or treat: Bring in a licensed electrician to check wiring, fix frayed lamp cords, make sure the dishwasher wiring is safe, and install ground-fault circuit interrupters in all wet areas -- most likely by the kitchen and bathroom sinks. It's worth it.

Are you ready for Fright Night? Please light any outdoor porches and pathways to help young trick or treaters. And make a list of things you can do to avoid falling prey to these hidden home hazards.





1 Comment
Eva Costa link
11/4/2013 03:39:14 am

November 1, 2013

MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Dayton, OH – ‘Tis the season to have loved ones surround us, and create new memories. Right at Home-Dayton In-Home Care and Assistance launches their awareness campaign called “Home for the Holidays”. Their mission is to help senior citizens and others live independently in the privacy, security and comfort of their own home. The benefits of being home for the holidays are not only mental and physical; the importance of having the cornerstone of the family present and connected in the lives of the people they love is also emotionally significant. Allowing your loved one to live independently, with support from a professional in-home care provider, is the best gift you can give this holiday season.

Right at Home-Dayton has offers reliable, high quality services provided by professional, compassionate caregivers to the Greater Dayton area since 2005, and nationally since 1995. They have extensive skills for in-home geriatric care, in-home companionship, in-home assisted living for the mentally challenged, in-home rehabilitation, and respite care. This award winning organization handles more private personal care cases than any other company in the Greater Dayton are. Their goal is to support the family by offering total care, both personal and companion. Right at Home-Dayton develops custom care plans tailored to each client’s unique situation, yet the program can be expanded or scaled back as your loved one recovers from an illness or injury.

While the holidays are a time of great joy, family gathering, and thanksgiving, they can also be a time where the elderly in nursing homes struggle with depression and a sense of disconnection. Home sickness, loneliness, loss of freedom, perceived inadequacy of care, and loss of their familiar social support systems are all risk indicators for depression. The prevalence of depression in nursing home residents is very high, three to four times higher than seniors living independently. According to the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation, the percentage of nursing home residents struggling with depression is upwards of 50%, while the lowest rate occurs among the elderly living in their own homes. The future seems brighter when a senior feels a sense of freedom and control that being in their own home brings. Right At Home employs experienced professionals to help your loved one transition back home, where they belong.

Excellent in-home care and assistance can not only can preserve mental well-being but also preserve fragile geriatric health. Nursing homes are breeding grounds for infections. According to the CDC, infections that are endemic in nursing homes are urinary tract infections, gastroenteritis, skin and soft tissue infections and lower respiratory tract infections, particularly pneumonia.Optimally, the best situation for the health and well being of our beloved seniors is the excellent home care that Right at Home delivers.

Having to cope with the demands of the hectic holiday season while caring for your loved one can be stressful, but the compassionate in-home companionship, rehabilitation, and respite care that Right at Home can provide will bring the joy back to the holidays. If you need help, you’re not alone.

In most instances, Right at Home can provide consistent in home care for a fraction of a private nursing home. The average cost of a nursing home in Dayton, Ohio, $10,000.00 a month. The average cost of an in-home loving care giver from Right at Home-Dayton, $19.00 an hour. The gift of keeping a loved one in their own home, priceless!

For more information about Right at Home-Dayton, In Home Care and Assistance, please call representatives 24 hours a day at (937)291-2244 or visit http://www.rightathomedayton.com. For Press Inquiries, contact Eva Costa at (937)554-7766 or costafoster.fostercosta@gmail.com.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    About DAASE

    We are a passionate group of people who believe that staying in place, in a home of one's own choosing is the best place to be.

    Archives

    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    Aging In Place
    StayInPlace.org
    Sustainable Design
    Universal Design

    RSS Feed

www.StayInPlace.org
© 2017 Design Alliance For Accessible Sustainable Environments
Visit Us On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/StayInPlace/