Has the kitchen always been a favorite room for your elderly loved one? Perhaps she loved making meals for her family, or sitting around the table and playing cards well into the night with cool drinks and delicious snacks to keep them fortified.
Whatever her reasons, if your senior loves being in the kitchen, it’s important to understand that the kitchen can now pose hazards for your senior. Before she starts working on her next meal or baking masterpiece, considerations such as home care assistance need to be evaluated to keep her safe.
Four Common Injuries Seniors Sustain in the Kitchen
While it’s true that anyone can injure themselves in the kitchen, the elderly are especially susceptible because of some of the limitations that occur to a person’s body as they age. Your loved one may not have the strength she used to, eyes that see as well, or the ability to regain her balance when she loses her footing.
All of these natural changes in the body’s natural physicality can increase the risk of injury, requiring regular support from home care assistance and family caregivers.
1) Burns and Cuts
If your loved one’s sight has diminished in recent years, it can put her at risk of injuring her hands when trying to prepare her next meal. Chopping and cutting fresh vegetables and fruits are great for health, but special care should be taken when the task is at hand.
Burns can also occur more easily, especially if your loved one has reached a point where her cognitive abilities have slowed down a bit. She can forget she’s turned on a burner and accidentally touch it, or reach into the oven to grab a hot pan without protective oven mitts.
2) Falls
The kitchen floor can often become slippery when food is being prepared in the area. Water from the sink may splash on the floor, or a lettuce leaf covered in dressing may spill from her salad plate onto the floor.
For many elderly, it’s difficult to quickly recenter themselves when their feet slip out from underneath them, making a simple slip turn into a painful fall that may produce injuries.
3) Strained Muscles
Another common injury in the kitchen comes from tall cabinets that store items on high shelving. Oftentimes, rarely used kitchen appliances are stored up on those shelves, and when your loved one reaches up to pull one down, she could easily hurt her shoulder or back with the movement.
If she’s trying to use a step stool to reach that item, she could also easily lose her footing and injure herself even more.
4) Food Poisoning
Keeping on top of leftovers and fresh produce is important to make sure your loved one doesn’t eat something that’s gone back. With taste buds and a sense of smell that may not work as well as they used to, your senior can’t always tell if something has gone bad and should be thrown away.
Staying Safe in the Kitchen with Home Care Assistance
One way to help your elderly loved one stay safe in the kitchen is to have a home care assistance team help her with kitchen duties. They might help with preparing meals, cleaning the floors, and/or monitoring the ingredients in the fridge.
Regular help from a home care assistance provider can reduce the risk of your loved one injuring herself in the kitchen while still providing her the opportunity to use it with confidence and independence.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Home Care Assistance in Brown Deer, WI, please contact the caring staff at Talem Home Care & Placement Services today. Call (414) 206-2090
At Talem Home Care of Milwaukee, we provide passionate, understanding, and flexible caregivers in Brookfield, Cudahy, Delafield, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, Milwaukee, Mukwonago, Muskego, New Berlin, Oak Creek, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, West Allis and surrounding areas in Wisconsin.
