Daily Living Blog

Making Your Home Safe – Decreasing Falls & Injuries

In the fall of 1995, Clementine Geymonat Crainer fell as she was going up the stairs to her apartment building. She was my very feisty 96 year old grandmother. The fall resulted in devastating life changes that robbed her of her independence. As a result of the fall, she began to experience loss of memory and decreased cognitive abilities. Subsequently, she went to live with my parents and became dependent upon them. Within a year and a half, she died at age 96. If you’d met “Tinney”, you’d have known what a strong and independent woman she was and you’d also have known that this unfortunate turn of events probably could have been prevented if we’d had a better understanding of caring for our aging family and ensuring home safety.

According to a July 2006 study from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, falls are the leading cause of injury death among older adults and the most common cause of non-fatal injuries and hospital admissions. In 2003, 1.8 million Americans age 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for fall-related injuries. That same year 13,000 people age 65 and older died from fall-related injuries. Two thirds of these falls occurred in and around the home(1).

Colorado State University (CSU) Extension has published an article which specifically details risk factors that can cause a fall. “Although no single risk factor causes all falls, the greater the number of risk factors to which an individual is exposed, the greater the probability of a fall and the more likely the results of the fall with threaten the person’s independence.”(2) Most of these falls are preventable if you decrease the number of risk factors. The most prevalent of these risk factors is Environment Hazards. The good news is that environment hazards are PREVENTABLE.

By combining CSU’s list of environment hazards with our own experience in the field, we have compiled a list of safety issues in and around the home as well as viable remedies to the problems. The first step to decreasing risk factors is to conduct a walk-through. Whether it is your own home or that of a friend or family member walk through looking for anything that could potentially cause a safety issue, particularly for someone with a mobility issue.

Outdoors (Front walk, driveways, back and side yards)
• Install handrails on both sides of stairs and steps, whether one stair or an entire flight. Extend them one foot beyond the last step for added support and position the top of the railing at elbow height of homeowner – Handrails are available at most home supply stores and can be cut to your specifications.
• Ensure that existing handrails are fastened correctly and sturdy.
• Repair stairs or walkways that have cracks or abrupt edges (including uneven tile stairs or landings).
• Keep walk areas clean and free of debris, rocks, roots, and overgrown plants and shrubs.
• Address the issues of high doorway thresholds by either adjusting them or adding threshold ramps – Prairie View Industries Threshold Ramps are ideal.
• Ensure that there is adequate lighting by doorways and walkways. Statistics show that the elderly need 2-3 times the light people need in their 20s and 30s. Consider installing motion sensor lighting. – Available at most home supply stores.

Entry, Stairs and Hallways
• Reduce clutter and heavy furnishings for easier accessibility.
• Secure rugs with nonskid tape – Tape is available at most home supply stores or larger supermart.
• Make sure carpeting is secured and get rid of throw rugs that cannot be secured to the floor
• Provide adequate lighting and if necessary place light switches at each end of stairs or hallways – Contact a qualified, licensed handyman or electrician for any home repairs.
• Install nightlights in the hallways particularly from the bedroom to the bathrooms.
• Stairs – install handrails that are tightly fastened the entire length of the steps along both walls.
• Consider purchasing a stairlift if this is a long-term mobility issue. If this is a short-term situation, contact a local homecare supply company like Homecare Suppliers, LLC to see about renting a unit. You can install most of the units yourself, or you can use a licensed installer. Summit Stairlifts are very cost-effective and safe models.

Bathrooms (Full and half baths)
• Install grab-bars on walls around the tub/shower and beside the toilet, strong enough to hold your weight – Curve Grab Bar by Standers are very secure.
• Install nightlights in bathrooms.
• Add nonskid mats or appliqués to bathtub and shower floor surfaces – Available at most home supply stores or larger supermart.
• Use nonskid carpets or mats around the tub and sink to ensure that the floor does not get wet and slippery.
• Install a raised toilet seat if needed. There are multiple toilet seats that assist with mobility and safety issues, including Uplift or Lift Seat 3000.
• Mount liquid soap and shampoo dispensers on the bathtub/shower walls.
• Install a portable, hand-held shower head – Available at most home supply stores or larger supermarts.
• Consider purchasing a shower platform if you have to step down into the shower. This will raise the shower up to avoid tripping getting in or out of the shower. – PVI Shower Platforms
• Purchase a bath or shower seat. – Available through Homecare Suppliers or your home supply store.
• Purchase a bath lift for the tub. These are usually portable and can travel with anyone who has difficulty getting in and out of the tub whether at home or visiting family. – Homecare Suppliers carries several different bath lifts.
• Consider installing a walk-in bath tub. Your standard tub can be swapped out to place a walk-in tub for ease and safety in bathing. These provide a door and seat for safety and comfort. – Presidential Series and SafeHands Walk-In Tubs provide both safety and comfort.

Living, Dining and Family Rooms
• Keep electrical and telephone cords out of the way.
• Arrange furniture for ease of movement and accessibility. Pay close attention to smaller furniture, such as coffee tables or decorative objects, which could cause someone to stumble or fall.
• Make sure that furniture in the home is easy to get in and out of.
• Consider purchasing furniture risers that increase the height of the furniture to aid in sitting or standing. – Furniture Risers or Stand Easy Chair Lift by Standers are ideal.
• Install grab-bar or furniture canes to assist in rising from furniture – Standers has several products including the CouchCane and the Security Pole & Curve Grab Bar.
• Remove casters wheels from furniture for more stability.
• Consider replacing shag or thicker carpeting that could impede walkers or wheelchairs in the home.
• Modify or remove small changes in elevation/levels, especially single steps in common areas(3). ¬– Prairie View Industries has various ramps that could be used and are less costly than construction.

Bedrooms
• Provide adequate lighting including a bedside light with a switch for ease in turning on and off.
• Have a nightlight.
• Relocate telephone near the bed or purchase a cordless phone.
• Adjust height of bed to make it easy to get in and out – Standers Furniture Risers can increase the height of your bed 3 to 4 inches.
• Purchase a bed rail for stability in getting in and out of bed but also to ensure that falls do not occur while sleeping – Standers Easy Adjust Bed Rail or Drive Medical’s Bed Assist Handle.
• Have a firm chair, with arms, to sit and dress.

As you can see, there are many things to consider in making your home safer. Many products, including the ones highlighted here, are available to ease mobility and to reduce home environmental hazards. Homecare Suppliers, LLC has a catalog of products that meet many of the accessibility and safety issues facing the elderly or those with mobility issues. Whether it is a permanent ramp, a vehicle ramp, grab-bars for use throughout your home, or stairlifts and elevators, we represent some of the best products on the market.

Homecare Suppliers, LLC., members of the Better Business Bureau, is a privately-held company specializing in home medical equipment. We pride ourselves on only offering top-of-the-line medical equipment. Our goal is to provide our customers with a simple one-stop solution for all their home medical equipment needs.

References
1. July 2006 “Injury Prevention Fact Sheet” Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. www.astho.org/pubs/ElderlyFactSheet.pdf
2. May 1996/December 2005 “Preventing Falls in the Elderly” K.R. Tremblay Jr. and C.E. Barber. Colorado State University Extension. www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/consumer/10242.html
3. September 2000 “Designs on Building Safe Homes for the Elderly” Gina Rollins. National Safety Council. www.nsc.org/rexources/issues/articles/fallfalls.aspx

Additional Resources
Senior Approved: www.qualityeldercare.com/certified.html
Aging Network Services: www.agingnets.com
Administration on Aging: www.aoa.dhhs.gov
National Council on Aging: www.ncoa.org
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: www.cpsc.gov
Center for Disease Control –Fall Prevention: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/preventadultfalls.htm
National Safety Council: www.nsc.org
Occupational Health & Safety – www.ohsonline.com

Homecare Suppliers, LLC Makes Its Mark Online With Instructional Videos Leading to a New Level in Customer Service and Care

Contact: Pam Billings, 816-525-2205
www.buyastairlift.com

Kansas City, MO –

Homecare Suppliers, LLC, a nationally certified provider of home medical equipment for senior-age adults, is using innovation, customer service and easy-to-use online planning videos to help seniors live longer and healthier lives in their homes.

Homecare Suppliers industry leading Web site – www.buyastairlift.com – has become one of the top Web portals for consumers purchasing assisted living/mobility products online.

Throughout its Web site, customers discover detailed product descriptions, complemented with online videos showing installation instructions as well as product demonstrations.

“Customers increasingly tell us they’re looking for ways to make the buying and installation process easier, so Homecare Suppliers LLC has introduced a series of videos demonstrating our industry-leading products and their installations,” said Pam Billings, Director of Operations for Homecare Suppliers, LLC. “This offers our customers a valuable new tool that will make their decisions easier and their buying experience more pleasant.”

Homecare Suppliers started using online videos when it began selling via its Web site self-installed stair lifts. The company quickly recognized customers needed to be able to see how the stair lifts worked and how easy they are to install. Homecare Suppliers became one of the first dealers to use such videos on its Web site.

As Homecare Suppliers has added new products to its Web site, the company has continued to expand its online videos. Today, the Web site features more than 40 planning videos in its online library. The helpful videos cover everything from measuring your stairs for a stair lift to installing a bath lift in a tub.

The success of the online videos is evident to Homecare Suppliers, which has seen an increase in sales and positive responses from consumers who tell them competing dealers actually recommended they go to Homecare Suppliers online video library to watch the installation videos or to help answer their questions about how certain products work.

In addition it its online videos, Homecare Suppliers’ Web site features include easy-to-use navigation, strong visual images and content, customer testimonials, product photo galleries and site-search functionality. Products Homecare Suppliers offers online includes: stair lifts, wheelchair and scooter ramps, wheelchair and scooter lifts, bath lifts, shower chair, walk-in bathtubs, dumbwaiters, toilet bidets, bed rails and numerous daily-living products.

Homecare Suppliers maintains a toll-free phone number to assist customers at 888-252-2205. Homecare Suppliers is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., and operates offices outside Springfield, Mo. Homecare Suppliers also has contracts with qualified installers across the nation

About Homecare Suppliers, LLC
Homecare Suppliers is a privately-held business specializing in home medical equipment for senior-age adults. Homecare Suppliers was recently recognized by Senior Approved Services as a Certified Senior Approved Service. The national certification is only awarded to those service providers (or businesses) that have at least a 90 percent customer satisfaction rating. The company is dedicated to providing a new level of service and technology for consumers researching and buying assisted living/mobility products online. Homecare Suppliers’ Web site is located at www.BuyAStairLift.com.

Contact:
Pam Billings, 816-525-2205
pbillings@buyastairlift.com

Homecare Suppliers, LLC

Homecare Suppliers is featured in February’s Homecare Magazine

Homecare Suppliers is pleased to be featured in Homecare Magazine. Homecare Magazine is a monthly magazine by HomeCare. HomeCare serves home medical equipment providers who provide patients in the home with medical equipment, medical supplies, and a variety of in-home services. Their magazine provides HME subscribers with timely legislative, regulatory and business news; in-depth analyses of various market segments; features on emerging issues and trends; practical how-to advice on business operations; best-practices profiles; and a constant stream of new product information.

In the February issue, Susanne Hopkins highlights Homecare Suppliers with her article titled “Getting A Lift Without Medicare.” It can be read in its entirety here at HomecareMag.com. While the article is written in part to inform those in the medical equipment industry that they can get by without medicare and insurance reimbursement, it also highlights the foundation on which Homecare Suppliers is built: Integrity & Quality Customer Service.

Pam Billings, Director of Operations, explains in the article why we chose as a company to not pursue medicare and medicaid products.
“There was too much turmoil in the Medicare segment, says Pam, and it was tainted with the appearance of fraud and abuse, something her husband, a police detective, particularly wanted to avoid.

“We found that most companies get payment up front,” Pam says, adding that Homecare Suppliers does, too, when the company completes an Internet sale. But when sales are local, the installation is completed before customers pay. “We wanted to be unorthodox and say, ‘We trust that you are going to pay us,’” she says.

The article points out that Homecare Suppliers is not only an internet sales dealer but we also do site visits to assist our local Kansas City customers with their purchases of bath lifts, stair lifts and other mobility products. We want to go the extra mile to make sure that our customers are getting the product they need.