Falls and Falling

Today’s insight discusses falls and falling. Your loved one with dementia is going to fall. Set up the environment to minimize injury.

Transcription of Video:

Hi, I’m Deb Nygaard with Arthur’s Residential Care presenting today’s Insights from Arthur’s.

Today I want to talk about falls. Your loved one with dementia is going to fall. Their brain is dying and this is just a part of it. Of course in the industry, we try to do everything that we can to minimize the damage from a fall. Some of the things you can do while your loved one is still at home is put the mattress on the floor. Or maybe you start with just the box spring and the mattress and get rid of the frame.  You can even get some of those mats that they use for gymnasts, laying them down on the side of the bed. If they do fall out of bed, they have some cushion to fall on. Also consider moving the nightstand away so they can’t hit their head on it when they fall.

Eliminating clutter is a really big one, even though it’s hard to get the clutter out sometimes because they think you’re stealing it. Helping them to work through minimizing clutter will help with falls so they are not hitting their head if they do fall.

Walkers are great, until they forget to bring their walker with them and they fall and hit their head. This could lead to some swelling and you might not know for two or three days how much damage was caused. So whatever you can do to make their environment safe and less cluttered with fewer tripping hazards will be to their benefit.

I’m Deb Nygaard with Arthur’s Residential Care.

Contact Deb Nygaard
Director of Development
Arthur’s Residential Care: 651-429-4798