Safety tips for the elderly

Preventing domestic accidents at old age

As people grow older, there is the need to be more careful and employ safety precautions in order to guard against injuries. This is owing to the fact that the human body loses its strength and agility with old age, and the elderly are more prone to injuries more often the younger ones. Little domestic accidents can lead to severe injuries for elderly people if the necessary precautions are not taken. These injuries could range from bone fracture from falls to even death as a result of minor domestic accidents.

In order to guide against these physical challenges that come with old age, it is important to take practical steps and precautions to guard against injuries and enhance your personal safety and quality of life. This can be done by taking steps to make your home safer. The following are steps that can be taken to ensure your personal safety and quality of life:


With old age come a number of physical ailments. We tend to lose our sense of balance and develop troubles with our sight. We also develop degradation of our muscles and bones. One very effective way to prevent this is to engage in regular physical exercise. Regular physical exercise slows the rate at which our muscles and bones wear off. It improves our sense of balance and increases agility, balance and strength. By engaging in regular exercise, older adults have a lot to gain. Aside from the physical effects of regular exercise, it can also improve the general heart condition of the elderly and increase circulation


Ensuring safety at home is a very good way to prevent injuries from domestic accidents. Most domestic injuries suffered by the elderly are as a result of falls which occur at home. In order to reduce the risk and possibility of these falls the following precautions can be taken:

  1. Ensure that your bathroom floor can provide a good footing when it’s wet.
  2. Keep your lights on at night and endeavour to use torchlight if the lights are off.
  3. Leave your stairwell uncluttered and in good condition. Also ensure that it is always well lit.
  4. Ensure that you have sufficient space to move about in the house. This is to avoid collision with furniture or other household items.
  5. Make sure that your kitchen floor is not slippery.
  6. 3.       GET HELP

If you are aged and your have children or grandchildren, you can ask them to come over and help you around the house once in a while. This way, you reduce the occurrence of accidents around the house. You can even get a house help if you can afford it, to carry out domestic chores around the house. This way, you’ll stay safe and live your life to the fullest.