SAFETY FIRST. Stacey Mann of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation periodically puts out tips for people over 65 in the Foundation's bulletin, Community Impact.
The June issue has an item on preventing falls at home, reporting work by the Carroll Center for the Blind in Massachusetts and Westbury Community Action in Rhode Island.
As people's depth perception declines, they have more trouble going down stairs safely and their risk of falling and breaking a hip goes up. Chief trouble spots are the top step and the bottom step, which need to be highlighted with paint or tape. Carroll Center has worked on this problem with 1,440 clients since 1985. Westbay also works on stair-visibility during home visits to people over 85 (Rhode Island has the nation's highest share of population over that age).
Besides visibility on staircases, the article mentions four other major actions to reduce the risk of failing at home: 1) sturdy rails on both sides of staircases, 2) non-slip backing for scatter rugs or getting rid of them entirely, 3) grab bars in the bathroom and no-slip mats in the bathtub, and 4) whacking away at clutter to create wider pathways.
Here's the link: http://www.imakenews.com/tuftsfoundation/e_article002728534.cfm