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Bathroom Safety

Tips for Making your parent's bathroom safer

For the elderly, the bathroom—with its slippery surfaces and hard flooring—can be the most dangerous room in the home. Use these simple tips to help keep mom and dad out of harm’s way:

Clear the way for easy in and out.

Make sure furniture and area rugs aren’t blocking the door to the restroom, and remove laundry baskets, hampers and shoes from the entrance, leaving extra room for walkers and wheelchairs. Always have a nightlight in the bathroom itself and the hallway. Finally, make note of the door saddle; a half-inch rise in the floor may not seem like much, but it can be extremely dangerous for someone who has trouble lifting his or her feet or maneuvering with a walker or cane.

Ensure non-slip surfaces.

Put a non-slip bathmat with a rubberized back both inside and outside the tub or shower.

Install grab bars.

If possible, have grab bars installed by a professional, and use them near the toilet and in the shower or tub. (Remember: a towel bar was not designed to support body weight.)

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