Fall Prevention

Falls cluster around the bed, the bathroom, and the walk in between. The bed and wheelchair pressure alarm mats tell staff when someone is up before they are on the floor, and a fall floor mat softens the landing when an alarm does not buy enough time. Hospital socks cut slipping on hard floors. None of these replace mobility support, but together they catch the moments a walker alone will not.

In the bathroom, the work is the transfers. A shower chair with a backrest or a swivel bath chair keeps the wash sitting down instead of balancing on wet tile, and a raised toilet seat or raised toilet commode shortens the distance someone has to lower and lift. A bedside handrail attachment gives a fixed thing to grab on the way up. For heavier residents, the bariatric bath transfer chair carries the weight the standard chairs are not rated for.

The mistake is buying one aid for everyone. Someone mostly steady who needs a little confidence does fine with a single walking stick, a quad walking stick, or a seater walking stick they can rest on. As balance drops, a foldable aluminum walker gives four points of contact, and a foldable rollator walker adds wheels and a seat for anyone who tires partway down the hall. Crutches and the four-legged crutch walking stick cover the in-between and short-term cases. Walk the resident list with whoever runs care and re-fit as people change, because the wrong aid gets pushed aside and then it is not preventing anything.