Australian sons and daughters have been urged
to use Mother's Day to do a safety audit of the home for
elderly parents, especially those living
alone.
Archicentre said home safety was
one of the most important gifts sons and daughters could
give their
mums.
Elderly
people often do not recognise dangers in the home which
can lead to serious injuries or fatal incidents.
The top areas listed for home safety include:
* Install new batteries in the smoke detector
and test the alarm is working efficiently.
*
Ensure all deadlocks have keys in them on the inside of
the door.
* Check for unsafe steps or decks which may
need repair or the removal of slippery moss or
slime.
* Look for leaking taps or damaged downpipes
that could make paths slippery.
* Loose electrical extension leads across the
floor creating a trip hazard
* Loose rugs which may cause slip and trips
especially at the tops of stairs.
* The storage of stacks of old newspapers
creating a fire hazard in the home.
Many of
these hazards can be quickly observed and
removed.
Fast Fact information from the
Public Health Association of
Australia
Falls injuries are the leading cause of
injury-related death and are a leading cause of
injury-related hospitalisation in those aged 65 years
and older. Many of these injuries are severe: less than
half of older people hospitalised for a fracture or
other serious injury following a fall are able to return
home. The remainder require long term care, that
requires substantial resources by aged care facilities.
Population (epidemiological) studies show
that hip fractures are the most serious fall-related
injury in older people with 15% dying in hospital and a
third not surviving beyond one year
afterwards.
Renovators or home owners throughout
Australia can now take advantage of a FREE online
service which provides home owners with a time saving
way of engaging licensed, qualified tradespersons.