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There is much you can do to help elderly friends and relatives avoid emergency room visits. Following these suggestions from one of America's leading emergency room doctors can help keep seniors safer:
- Slips and falls: The National Institute on Aging estimates that 30 percent of persons over 65 sustain a fall each year, about a tenth of these accidents resulting in serious injury.
To prevent falls, use non-skid tape or traction mats in the bath and shower. Sturdy walking shoes with traction soles can reduce slips and falls on sidewalks. Rug-pads of open weave plastic can help hold carpets in place and keep smaller carpets from becoming "flying carpets."
- Cuts from broken glass bottles and containers: Glass bottles and containers from the refrigerator can be heavy and slippery, especially for people with arthritis or other conditions that impair strength and flexibility. Stock up on plastic containers and cups that are lightweight and shatter-resistant. Several container manufacturers now offer products with easy-to-open lids, specially designed for older people.
- Food safety: To help avoid food poisoning, hot foods should be kept hot when being served, and cold foods kept cold. Leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours in airtight plastic containers, less than two inches deep, to make sure foods cool properly and bacteria doesn't have a chance to thrive. Cooking utensils and surfaces should be kept squeaky clean.
- Medication problems: Know what medication your elderly friend or relative is taking and help them devise a simple system for taking medications on time and according to doctor's directions. "Blister" packaging -- where recommended dosages in pills or capsules are pushed through a heat sealed plastic/paper or plastic/foil package -- can be an effective way to do this. Some medications come in calendar type packaging with time, days and weeks marked for proper dosages. There are also pill boxes with compartments for each day of the week.
Clean out the medicine cabinet, keeping only current prescriptions. Ask the doctor or pharmacist about possible interactions between over-the-counter and prescription medicines.
- Home health care: Home-testing kits and easy-to-use monitoring devices can help people keep track of medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Additionally, modern, light-weight plastics make home health care devices such as respirators and oxygen delivery systems practical and affordable.
Crutches, walkers and wheelchairs now come in space age materials such as composite plastics, which are durable and easy to use. Glass thermometers can be replaced by low-cost digital readout devices pioneered in hospitals and doctors' offices. (NAPSI)
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