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Seniors Safety Products

Written By: William Rivers
Reviewed By: William Rivers
Published: October 27, 2020
Last updated: November 11, 2023

Aging is hard enough on its own — and ensuring our loved ones are safe is a priority. Be it family members or close friends, safety products for senior care allows your loved ones to go about their life with ease while granting you some necessary peace of mind.

Investing In Proper Care for Seniors

How can you tell what products you need with so many of them on the market? Choosing the right elderly assistance devices can be a difficult task, but that's precisely why we're here to help. Below is a quick rundown of all the items that you'll need, from the bedroom to the bathroom, as well as some other tips you can use to show your loved ones you care.

Products for Elderly Care

Installing elderly safety devices around the house allows them to get around safely and securely. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the senior care devices you need in your home, but they're a good start to ensuring your space is as prepped for senior living as it can be. To that end, some items worth looking into are:

Bedroom

Keeping the bedroom safe is crucial to assure a senior that their place of rest is equipped to handle their needs.

Bed Rails

These are a must when it comes to proper safety equipment. The right bed rail should be adjustable to meet the needs of your senior. The beauty of bed frames is that they're also relatively unobtrusive, as the ones worth getting shouldn't interfere with proper sleep.

Fall Mats

In connection to bed rails, a fall mat is a necessary home safety seniors product. It might be uncomfortable to entertain the thought of your loved one falling from bed, but the truth is that these accidents do happen. A fall mat with proper cushioning can help mitigate this risk.

Bedroom Commode

Bedroom commodes are important disability products for seniors, even if only to make it easier for them to heed nature's call at night. These commodes are also extremely portable, so you can put them aside during the daytime and have them close by at night if that's a setup that you'd prefer.

Bed Risers

Ideally, your mattress should be as tall as chair to make it easy for a senior to get in and out of bed. Bed risers can easily adjust the height of mattress in a pinch if the current height of your mattress isn't tall enough.

Don't let the plastic fool you: once these bed risers are placed under your bed posts, they're not going to move. You can also easily take them out and stack them on top of one another for storage.

Medical Alert Systems

Placing a medical alert system in the bedroom helps remind the senior in your life that help is never too far away. You'll definitely need to help your loved one set up their device, and you'll need to run a test call to make sure that it actually connects to an agent.

Bathroom

The bathroom is where most senior accidents occur—ensuring that it's safe can help a senior go about their daily activities with peace of mind.

Night Lights

Night lights are small products that actually deliver when it comes to senior care. Installing one or two LED night lights in your bathroom brings its safety up tenfold and decreases the chances of incidents during a quick trip to the toilet.

These devices also have sensors that turn the device on when the surroundings are too dark, which means you don't have to worry about them sucking up your electricity bill.

Grab Bars

If these aren't already built into your bathroom, consider investing in professional help to install them. There are suction bars that may also work, but installing grab bars near and around your toilet is the best way to ensure that a senior can go around the bathroom with minimal assistance.

Raised Toilet Seats

While bed height can be easily adjusted with some risers, the same can't be said for toilets. A toilet seat with handles makes going to the bathroom a breeze for seniors, and the fact that many of them have handles that make these seats a product for old people that you should invest in.

Kitchen

The kitchen is full of dangerous items that can cause an accident within seconds. Here are some items to keep the area safe for seniors.

Kitchen Stools

These stools function more like chairs than they do step stools, which means that seniors can use them to easily get around the kitchen. Kitchen stools can be adjusted according to height, making it easier for your loved one to cook and prep dishes with ease.

Cut Resistant Gloves

We mentioned prepping dishes in the previous subheading, which is where cut resistant gloves come in. These are an absolute senior care must, especially since cooking and hanging in the kitchen is such a huge part of everyday life. Cut resistant gloves not only ensure safety, but are also comfortable to wear.

Jar Openers

Jar openers allow a senior to quickly open jars without extra help. Lots of jar openers have a simple interface that makes using it as easy as pressing a button—literally! This small but mighty device will definitely make a big difference in your kitchen.

How Seniors Can Remain Independent

These products just scratch the surface of the many items and adjustments that a senior might need to ensure their safety at home. There are definitely seniors out there who still want to remain relatively independent, and that's also possible with the right devices. Aside from the devices mentioned above, it's important to double-check and see whether your home's layout is prepped for senior safety.

When it comes to optimizing any space for senior care, you'll want to look at lighting first. It's no secret that our eyes fail us as we age, so you'll need to make sure that all corners of your home are well-lit. As mentioned above, night lights are key safety devices that can also be put in your home.

From there, you'll also want to make sure to get rid of as much clutter within the space. Look out for loose wires and cables that can be tripped on, or furniture that's blocking the way. Go over area rugs and make sure they're stable—refasten them if not.

Lastly, go through and see what additions you can make to give your loved ones as smooth of a stay as possible. This might mean making light switches more accessible, switching doorknobs to levers, and getting rid of furniture that's too unstable. These small switches are important for senior care in the long run.

How to Care for a Senior Loved One

Senior safety is now more important than ever. Doing the work to research and invest in the right products for the elderly is absolutely crucial if you want your loved ones to enter their golden years as peacefully as possible.

The right equipment can also ensure that the seniors in your life maintain a degree of independence and enjoy their life without having to depend on other people.

Of course, it's also important to remember that these changes should be talked through with your loved one. Keeping them in the loop shows them that you value their safety above anything else, and they might even voice out other needs that you can help them address over time.

At Senior Strong, we've put up resources to help seniors and their loved ones navigate retirement years with ease. Check out our resources on senior care products and on independent living to learn more today!

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William Rivers is an editor with a master’s degree in Human Services Counseling at Maine State University. He has more than 20 years of experience working in the senior healthcare industry.

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