Fall Prevention at Home and at Foundation House, with Lynn Creasy

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following is a podcast from a qualified senior care provider, hurt, on the answers for elders radio show. And welcome everyone back to answers for elders radio and I am here with our Wonderful Lynn creasy from foundation house at northgate. I’m so glad you’re here because we are in the month of October where everything is Pumpkin and spice and and everything nice and October fast to yes, October Fest Adams is a good day with you know what, I love this area in the fall and I know that. I think that we all agree that this is one of the most beautiful times of year here and certainly, you know, looking forward to all kinds of things up ahead. But this month, obviously we’re talking about fall prevention, different form of fall, and obviously it’s an issue for seniors and you know, we always say that one fall could be catastrophic, especially for a senior that lives at home, and so certainly there’s a lot of attention that we want to place on this topic because there are things that can be done to prevent falls and obviously foundation house, you guys are very well versed in those types of things that help seniors so that they are much safer in their environment rather than their own home. Tell us a little bit lean about foundation house and what you guys do to help that. Yeah, and, as you said, it’s all about prevention and I the other word that comes to mine is comfort. So a few things that we do on a regular basis is we install high toilets so they’re easy to get up and up and down. Plenty of grab bars shower and there in the right places and they’re in the right places and they’re done and are installed onto the run. Yes, so they’re not towel racks. That’s right. Shower seats important, they’re also the shower itself. As far as having a tube shower handle, yeah, that comes up and we often will lower that because if someone sitting on it right, I will lower that handle to have that handheld shower make it easy, yeah, to be used. So those are a lot of well adaptations that we’ve, yeah, that all of our units have. And if something isn’t there the you know, you notify maintenance and we’ll do it right up. So one of the things that I know in my my years of practice of working with seniors is that over seventy five percent of broken hips happen when seniors fall in their home bathroom. It’s not it’s this is this is the actuality of when they say that the bathroom is the most dangerous place in the house, because in many cases seniors are not making the proper adaptations in their own home, and so what happens is is they have a catastrophic fall and their home probably or may not be, you know, aging a place friendly for them to be able to come back. They may not have a ramp, they may be in a wheelchair for a while. We don’t know what those scenarios are. So we oftentimes fine seniors that have maybe had a fall that they come to you or you know, a location like yours, and you know, you guys can handle this type of situation, can’t you? Yes, and there’s a couple things that come to mine on that topic. As far as being close to the bedroom, the the restroom, being close to the bedroom is is really key, and oftentimes seniors have to get up in the middle of the night at night and this, and paired with that, is lighting, because often the falls happen in the middle of the night when they’re trying to go to the bathroom and they don’t see or they’re it might be confused and having the correct lighting, whether out of matic lighting or a really nice light night light, where they can be safe and throw rugs. And yes, throwing the throw rug throw rugs are probably not the best idea because they they do slip and they if they did, and puddle up and then next thing you know, you’re right on it. And and so so one of the things that obviously for you know, if your mom or dad or loved one or yourself are still at home in your house, those are things right away to prevent yourself from falling that you should look at. The great thing about moving to an you know, a community like foundation house, even as independent, is those modifications are already done for you. So you’re in a much safer environment. Ark, yes, and that, and that out even outside of the restroom we have a very, very low pile carpet that’s easy to get around on. There’s no sharp edges. Right. All of those things are looked at and you within the nails and handrails and you know, one of the things it’s really important is, like, if, for example, fall prevention again is walking from your apartment down to the dining hall. there. You know it’s a little bit of a walk. They’re going to go down an elevator in some cases, Yep, but the idea is, obviously is that they’re likely are handrails in the hallways and there what and places for them to sit in between. Yes, well, definitely. We also have. We Are Our community is designed such that we have two buildings facing each other and there’s a entry way, driveway that comes between the two and so on good weather, the the residents can walk between the buildings. Huh, outside, Huh. But we’ve also designed a corridor underneath and the bottom level which, if there’s no sleep, wind sometimes picked up really strong and they can go underneath and they cannot, even good x, go outside at all and make it really easy to go to the dining room, wow, wherever they’re headed. So we are talking again to Lynn creasy and she’s the community relations director of the Foundation House at North Gate and Lynn tell us a little bit about Wet Foundation House offer seniors. We are a retirement community that is independent and we also offer assisted living, light to moderate care and we offer many different things for seniors. But we’re very active. I would say we’re very young and we also offer we’re really known for our food. Our Chef is pretty amazing awesome and you know, that’s really the Nice thing about it is you don’t have food is important and going into the kitchen, there are some hazards in in if somebody still living at home, I we you know, we want to talk about the kitchen to because wherever there’s water, your chances are you’re going to have an issue with fall prevention. So one of the things that I always encourage seniors to have is have a stool in the kitchen. You know, make sure that you’ve got some sort of you know, you know you won’t have clutter, keep your floors swept well, so there isn’t things that you’re going to step on, which the housekeepers would do. Yes, absolutely, and the Nice thing at foundation house is you have that kind of maintenance that is happening and because you don’t necessarily have to cook unless you really want to, you have a little kitchen there. But the Nice thing about it is you don’t have that, you know, extended standing, all of the things that happen, dropping things down, reaching down to grab them when you’re cooking and then you fall right and actually, from an independent living standpoint, are all of our units do have a full kitchen at nice and a washer and dryer. So a lot of residents want to do their own lab absolutely, so we have a stackable Washer and dryer that they can do their own laundry and fold it and just the way they want it, which I think is kind of a rarity and a lot of returning communities. Absolutely and having having your own laundry in your unit. You’re not slapping things back and forth down the hall or couldst like that, which is really nice nce and it really makes it good fruit to have that independent HMM type. So so I’m going to talk a little bit too when we get into fall prevention. I’m going to talk a little bit about just general construction because again, we all look at if you’re looking at your own home right now, let’s say I want to think about aging in place and I will oftentimes say two family saying you know, I’m thinking about instead of moving mom or dad into retirement living, I’m going to take off work, I’m going to quit my job and I’m going to take care of my mom and my house. And so I’m probably going to need some extra things, you know, done to my house. Okay, so I start going through the list. First of all, you can get a little crazy. It can get a little crazy because if a senior ly needs care, usually it means that they’re probably have to have a walker or eventually have a wheelchair. If that’s the case, one of the things that’s got we’re going to look at is how wide are your doorways? These are things that you don’t even think about. How much maneuverability or in the bathroom R and the shower DECI have hour are they have in and out. So you’re bad news when you start looking at these types of modifications that need to be done in your own home. These things can get very, very, very expensive. And then when you look at quitting a job on top of it and losing your income come, you know, sadly, you know like, for example, when you’re out of the workplace for could be years, right, you’re going to lose a lot of social security, long term care, you long long term benefits and your own you know world. So what I’m trying to emphasize with families is to the right kind of math before you just carcass off and say that retirement living isn’t the best option for your senior look correct and and you, I can’t say. I can’t stress that enough. That is really important and I am I applaud caregivers. I think it’s brilliant. When I mean we’re all family caregivers. I’m in the process of that with my father in law right now and my house is not the place where he is safe. HMM, so we actually have them somewhere else at this point. But yeah, that that’s really important to look at all those numbers and there’s I have a worksheet, but you can contact me for that. That shows all those numbers where you can do a worksheet or you can find something online. My email is is info at foundation house, MNGCOM, if you wanted to email me for that. HMM. But be but there’s lots of different ways to look at finances and and I think that’s doing your due diligence very importantly. Absolutely, and also just really looking at, you know, how what is the best opportunity, just even socializing. It’s so much better to be have a senior loved one in an environment where they have socialization as opposed to being isolated at home. That’s for sure. So, Lynn, how do we reach you? Website is foundation house Ng. The Ng is for Northgatecom and phone number is two thousand and six, three hundred and six, one, two, seven, five eight. Fabulous and I be happy to speak with you about any intricacies of what you’re looking for. Well, I’m so glad you’re here and thank you again giving the show today. Thank you for having me answers for elders radio show with Suzan Newman. Hopes you found this podcast useful in your journey of navigating senior care. Check out more podcasts like this to help you find qualified senior care experts in areas of financial, legal, health and wellness and living options. Learn about our radio show, receive our monthly newsletter, receive promotional discounts and meet our experts by clicking on the banner to join the Senior Advocate Network at answers for elders RADIOCOM. Now there is one place to find the answers for elders