Home Safety
Caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease often have to look at their homes through new eyes to identify and correct safety risks. Creating a safe home environment can prevent many stressful and dangerous situations.
Prevention begins with a safety check of every room in your home. Use the following room-by-room checklist to alert you to potential hazards and to record any changes you need to make.
- Install secure locks on all outside windows and doors, especially if the person is prone to wandering. Remove the locks on bathroom doors to prevent the person from accidentally locking himself or herself in.
- Use childproof latches on kitchen cabinets and anyplace where cleaning supplies or other chemicals are kept.
- Label medications and keep them locked up. Also make sure knives, lighters and matches, and guns are secured and out of reach.
- Keep the house free from clutter. Remove scatter rugs and anything else that might contribute to a fall.
- Make sure lighting is good both inside and outside the home.
- Be alert to and address kitchen-safety issues, such as the person forgetting to turn off the stove after cooking. Consider installing an automatic shut-off switch on the stove to prevent burns or fire.
- Be sure to secure or put away anything that could cause danger, both inside and outside the home.
- Secure the yard with fencing and a locked gate. Use door alarms such as loose bells above the door or devices that ring when the doorknob is touched or the door is opened.
- Notify neighbors of the person's potential to wander or become lost. Alert them to contact you or the police immediately if the individual is seen alone and on the move.