Preventing Falls at Home: A Room-by-Room Check

Mobility & Comfort · Checklist · 7 min read

Preventing Falls at Home: A Room-by-Room Check

Most falls at home are not caused by one dangerous thing. They are caused by four small ones lining up: a dim hallway, a rug edge, slippers with no back, and getting up too fast. Walk the house once with this list and fix what you find.

The route from bed to bathroom

This is the highest-risk path in the house, because it is walked half asleep in the dark. A plug-in night light at floor level in the bedroom, hallway and bathroom fixes most of it. A torch on the bedside table is a poor substitute; hands are needed for balance.

Clear the route completely: no charging cables, no shoes, no basket that gets moved and left.

Floors, everywhere

• Loose rugs: remove them, or tape all four edges down
• Curled mat corners at doorways: replace, do not flatten
• Trailing cables: run them along skirting, not across a walkway
• Spills and condensation: a cloth kept where they happen, not in another room

Stairs

A handrail on both sides if the width allows, running the full length and past the top and bottom step. Mark the edge of the top and bottom steps with contrasting tape if depth perception is a problem. Nothing stored on a step, ever, even for a minute.

Bathroom

Grab bar at the shower or bath entrance and beside the toilet, non-slip mats in and out, and a shower stool if standing for a whole wash is tiring. Raise the toilet seat if getting up needs a pull on something.

Kitchen

Move everything used daily to between hip and shoulder height. No step stool, no reaching over a hot ring. A reacher grabber handles the top shelf better than a chair does, and a jar opener stops the two-handed twist that pulls people off balance.

Living room

The chair matters more than people expect: firm, with arms, and high enough that standing up does not need a lunge. A soft low sofa is the single most common reason someone cannot get up alone.

Two things that are not furniture

• Footwear. Shoes with a back and a thin, firm sole. Backless slippers and thick soft soles both make the floor harder to feel.
• Getting up slowly. Sit on the edge of the bed for a count of ten before standing. Blood pressure that drops on standing causes a lot of falls that get blamed on the carpet.

If there has already been a fall, or if standing makes the room swim, that is worth a doctor visit rather than a shopping list. Medication side effects, vision and inner-ear problems are common causes and all of them are treatable.

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Want to see the products for every room in one place? Read Looking for Fall Prevention Products? Start Here, Room by Room.