Seniors are more likely to have a fall because they may have: balance problems and muscle weakness. vision loss. a long-term health condition, such as heart disease, dementia or low blood pressure (hypotension), which can lead to dizziness and a brief loss of consciousness.
There are key points to help assess the fall risk for your loved one:
• Identify hazards
• Assess the risks
• History of falling within the past year
• Impaired mobility or gait
• Altered mental status
• Medications associated with falls, such as sedative-hypnotics and blood pressure drugs
• Use of assistive devices
Family and Caregivers can help with safe transfers and ambulation
As a family member or professional caregiver, you may find yourself acting in place of a physical crutch for those in your care. You may help seniors sit down, stand up, walk, keep their balance, and move from one position to another. Safely ambulating a patient requires great care and training.
The physical strain that assisted ambulation puts on caregivers can be weighty and potentially dangerous if not well-trained. Understanding transfers and ambulation for a variety of mobility needs is the job of a skilled caregiver.
Transfers involve moving patients horizontally from one flat location to another (i.e., from a bed to a stretcher). In hospital settings, transfers are a more general term for relocating patients from one area or position to another. For example, moving a patient from their bed to a wheelchair and from their wheelchair to the toilet are common hospital transfers.
We hope this helps and reach out to Cottage Caregivers at 781-430-8599 for any questions you have related to working with a professional and experienced home care agency!
