Winter is beautiful, but it can also bring its own share of dangers, especially for your aging family members. Keeping up with some winter safety concerns can help to alleviate your fears and ensure your senior stays as safe as possible.
Get Some Ice Melt and Keep it Handy
Even if the weather only gets cold enough where your senior lives to have a little bit of ice early in the morning, stock up on some ice melt. Any tiny amount of ice is a huge fall risk, so it’s important to stop it before it starts. Look for ice melt versions that are pet-safe because they tend to have fewer toxic ingredients overall. Follow the directions on the package and keep it near entryways. Most formulations need only a light sprinkle of ice melt and can continue working for a couple of days.
Have the Heating System Cleaned and Inspected
Heaters and furnaces always seem to know when they’re needed most and that’s when they’re most likely to give out. Have the heater in your senior’s home inspected and cleaned so that you know it’s ready to keep up with winter weather. If anything seems to not be working right at all, it’s better to have the problem diagnosed now than to wait and have the unit fail when your senior needs it most.
Triple Check Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Winter is a particularly bad time for fires and for accidents with carbon monoxide. For that reason, it’s a good idea to pay even closer attention to your senior’s carbon monoxide and smoke detectors now. Test the devices every couple of weeks. If you notice any differences in how they operate, check in the owner’s manuals to see what the right solution is.
Hire Elderly Care Providers to Stop and Check In
One way to take a huge amount of worry off both your shoulders and your senior’s is to hire elderly care providers to stop and check in with her. They can also handle some tasks here and there, like making sure that her front porch isn’t icy and that she’s got plenty of food. They can also let you know what they see so that you can take action if you need to do so.
Some of these tasks need to be done periodically throughout the winter, too, like keeping an eye on the heating system and putting down more ice melt. Try not to get overwhelmed with these tasks and delegate them out whenever you can do so. That will help you to lighten your task load a bit.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Elderly Care in Madison, WI please contact the caring staff at Agape Senior Services Madison today. (608) 841-1004
