Falls among the elderly remain an ever-present danger not only for seniors, but for the companies and organizations that care for them as well. Recognizing the everlasting hazards falls pose, one California-based senior living provider has taken a vastly holistic approach to fall prevention at one of its communities in San Francisco, writes The New York Times in a recent article.
Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services, an owner and operator of three continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in the state, has addressed fall prevention not only in the programming it provides for residents, but has made several significant renovations at The Sequoias, a CCRC in San Francisco.
Designed with seniors’ point-of-views in mind, especially those with ailments such as cataracts, glaucoma, among other vision problems, The Sequoias’ team of engineers re-envisioned certain aspects of its community from a fall prevention perspective.
Adding a white line at the top and bottom steps of the community’s carpeted stairs, color-coated toilet seats and adding high-contrast steps to showers are just a few of the methods The Sequoias tackles fall prevention from a design lens.
However, despite those features and extensive “falls education” program and an annual “safety fair,” falls continue to be a persistent, and vexing, occurrence among some of The Sequoias’ residents, many of which view a loss of independence in adopting aid equipment such as canes, walkers and even wearable emergency response system pendants.
Read more at The New York Times.
Written by Jason Oliva