Keeping Your Home Safe for Your Loved One With Alzheimer’s Disease

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease comes with unique challenges, especially when it comes to ensuring their safety at home. As the disease progresses, changes in memory, reasoning, and sensory perception can increase the risk of accidents or harm. Taking proactive steps to create a secure environment is essential, and professional Alzheimer’s care can provide valuable support.

We explore why safety concerns arise with Alzheimer’s and share actionable tips to help protect your loved one while offering peace of mind for your family.

 

Why Alzheimer’s Disease Can Create Safety Concerns

As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, it creates changes in the brain, which may affect how your elderly loved one views and reacts to the environment around her. Some areas of reasoning that may prevent her from making a safe choice when encountering certain items can include memory (not remembering how to use something properly), loss of senses (not knowing when something is too hot or too sharp), and reasoning (not understanding why something shouldn’t be used in the manner which she is trying, such as placing a lit candle in an unsafe place).

Because of the progression of the disease, it’s often difficult to know when your loved one will no longer be able to remain safe and make sound decisions on her own regarding items in the home that could be unsafe. For those reasons, it’s better to be safe than sorry and take measures now to protect your loved one and those around her from harm. Alzheimer’s care services can help.

 

Four Safety Measures for Your Senior

In many ways, protecting your loved one and keeping her safe will feel a lot like protecting a small child. If you had children, you’ll find that many of the same steps you took to keep your toddler safe will be similar to how you keep your elderly loved one with Alzheimer’s disease safe in your home.

1. Remove or secure all firearms: Even if your loved one used firearms her entire life and always practiced the safe use of them, Alzheimer’s confusion may lead her to not know who someone is or feel frightened by a friendly face.
2. Install an automatic thermometer for water temperatures: A person with Alzheimer’s disease may not recognize that the water she’s washing her hands in is scalding her skin.
3. Lock up cleaning chemicals: Your loved one may be unable to remember how to properly use a cleaning product or may be confused by its packaging and think it’s something else. Anything that is a poison hazard needs to be locked up.
4. Medications should be secured: If your loved one needs to take medications daily, it might help to lock them up and administer them to her if she’s confused about which day it is. That will prevent her from taking too many doses in one day. Alzheimer’s care providers can help with medication management.

 

Providing Safety with Alzheimer’s Care

You might be at a point where it is unsafe to leave your loved one at home without supervision. If you need to run an errand or have other responsibilities, you could be at a point where you need someone extra help for Alzheimer’s care. A trained provider who understands the disease and how to work with those who have it can be a great resource when you are seeking Alzheimer’s care for your loved one.

An Alzheimer’s care provider can help with daily personal care needs, meal prepping and feeding, and watching over your loved one to ensure she doesn’t take any actions that would put her in an unsafe position.

 

 

 

 

If you or an aging loved one is considering Alzheimer’s Care in Arlington, VA, please contact the caring staff at Butters Home Health Care today. (703) 371-2113