1. 123. REPLAY: How to create a safe home for Dementia family members Lori Williams Senior Services 31:52

We hear about childproofing a home, but there’s another level of difficulty when you add years of experience of using common household items. That’s why it’s important to make your home safe if you’re caring for a senior with dementia. They’re often able to operate appliances, but their judgment is impaired – leading to home and personal safety issues.

Megan Rowe joins Senior Services Expert Lori Williams to discuss home safety for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s. As the senior program manager with the Alzheimer’s Association, Dallas and Northeast Texas Chapter, she draws from her expertise and personal stories to bring attention to this topic.

She discusses how the brain is affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia, particularly when it comes to judgment, behavioral changes, and spatial awareness. Paired with hazardous home items like kitchen knives, toxic cleaning products, and vitamins / medications, safety can get complicated. However, with the right practices (like keeping items out of sight, out of mind), cleanliness, reworking locks in your home, and keeping emergency numbers on hand, and more, you’re better positioned to keep your loved ones safe.

Topics discussed:

Dementia / Alzheimer’s

Dementia home safety

Safety proofing your home

Caregiver safety tips

Medication safety

Wandering

Medical Alert

Alzheimer’s Association

Takeaways from this episode:

– People with dementia experience behavioral changes and can become easily confused, suspicious or fearful. It’s important to store hazardous items like small kitchen appliances, chemicals (laundry pods), knives, guns, and more.

– Keep expired foods out of the fridge so your loved one doesn’t eat something and become ill. Write purchase dates on refrigerated products to make it easier.

– Write emergency numbers on your phone or on the fridge, along with a list of medications your loved one takes so it’s on hand in case of any crises that arise.

– Work with your doctor or home health company to figure out which walker is best, and whether you need adaptive furniture to make it easier to get in and out of beds and chairs.

– A few helpful tips: Remove locks from interior doors, declutter your home, put stickers on a glass door, deadbolt doors, and add nonslip stickers to showers (and wear nonslip shoes) to prevent falls.

– Enroll in Medical Alert so your loved one has an ID bracelet to help them return safely if they wander out of the house.

Resources discussed:

Call the 24 / 7 Alzheimer’s Association help line – and ask about Medical Alert:

800-272-3900

Free online community for everyone affected by Alzheimer’s or another dementia

https://www.alzconnected.org/

068. How the Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return Program is a lifeline for seniors with Dementia

https://www.loriwilliams-seniorservices.com/aging-in-style-podcast/episode/27332c4d/068-how-the-alzheimers-association-safe-return-program-is-a-lifeline-for-seniors-with-dementia

To suggest a topic, be a guest or to support the podcast, please email Lori@Loriwilliams-seniorservices.com

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Lori Williams Senior Living Expert & Host of the Podcast, Aging in Style

Owner/Founder of Lori Williams - Senior Services. I’ve worked in senior living for over 16 years. My passion for learning all I could about aging, dementia and resources for older adults was inspired by my grandmother who was diagnosed with dementia in 1994. I am also the creator and host of the podcast, Aging in Style. The purpose of the podcast is to educate on all things senior related and to share stories of inspirational seniors.

I have a degree in Marketing from LSU, and I am a Certified Senior Advisor and a Certified Dementia Practitioner.