Welcome to the Daily Senior Safety Advice Podcast.
This is the show where we talk about simple practical
ways to help older adults stay safe, confident,
and independent at home. I'm Esther Cain, a retired
occupational therapist, certified aging in place
specialist, and dementia care specialist. Today's
topic is on spotting the hidden dangers at home.
The ones that are easy to miss but can quietly
increase the risk of falls or injury over time.
So we're going to walk through how to notice
them and what you can do about them. I'm so glad
that you're here. Please visit our website SeniorSafetyAdvice
.com. Subscribe to the podcast and YouTube channel
and share this episode with someone who cares
about senior safety too. All right, let's get
into it. When most people think about home hazards,
they picture something obvious, you know, like
a loose rug or wet floor, cluttered hallway.
And yeah, it's true, those things matter. But
in my years as an occupational therapist working
with older adults, I learned that some of the
most dangerous problems in a home are the ones
that people tend to stop noticing. They blend
into everyday life. They become part of the background.
That is what makes them so risky. A home can
feel familiar and still be unsafe. It's a hard
idea, I know, for many older adults and family
caregivers. If you have lived in a home for many
years, it's easy to believe that because nothing
bad has happened yet, everything must be fine.
But safety is not just about what has already
gone wrong, it is also about what could happen
when your vision changes, when your balance changes,
when your strength changes, or even when your
memory changes. That is where hidden hazards
start to matter. A hidden home hazard is anything
that quietly increases the chance of a fall,
an injury, confusion, or just causes trouble
doing daily tasks safely. It may not look dramatic.
In fact, it may look completely normal, but normal
does not always mean safe. One example I can
give you is poor lighting. I have seen so many
homes that looked bright enough during the day,
but became risky in the evening. A hallway may
seem fine until the sun goes down. A staircase
may have light at the top, but not at the bottom.
a bathroom may have shadows that make it hard
to judge where the toilet seat or the tub edge
really is. That kind of lighting problem can
lead to missteps, hesitation, and even falls.
A simple way to spot this hazard is to walk through
the home at the times when it is actually used.
Check the pathway from the bed to the bathroom
at night. Look at the kitchen early in the morning.
uh and of course in the evening stand in the
shower area notice where the space feels clear
or shadowy safety looks very different at 2 p
.m than it does at 2 a .m hopefully you're not
up at 2 a .m another hidden hazard of course
that i think a lot of people don't think about
is furniture placement people often think clutter
is the issue and yeah sometimes that is But sometimes
the room looks neat and still does not work well.
A chair may be too low to stand up from safely.
A coffee table may sit just close enough to catch
a shin or block a walker. A favorite lamp may
require reaching and twisting. A narrow path
between pieces of furniture may force a person
to turn sideways or take small awkward steps.
I used to see this so often. A family would proudly
tell me that the room was tidy and they were
right. It was tidy but it wasn't supportive.
The furniture was too big for the area. There
were a lot of squares, you know, where it's so
easy to catch your leg and as you get older skin
gets thinner and it's much easier to tear and
takes a lot longer to heal. These homes simply
did not match the person's current body or mobility
needs. And that's a really big difference. A
safe home is not just clean, it's usable. Bathrooms
are full of hidden hazards too. And this is important
because so many falls happen in the bathroom.
Bathroom may look spotless and still be dangerous.
The floor may become slippery with only a little
bit of water. There may be nothing solid to hold
onto while stepping in and out of the tub. The
toilet may be too low. The towel bar may be used
like a grab bar, God forbid, even though it is
not built to hold your body weight. That last
one really worries me a lot, honestly. Just replace
the grab bar, I mean replace the towel bar with
a grab bar so you can use it for both purposes.
Many people reach for whatever is nearby when
they feel unsteady. If that nearby object is
not secure, it can pull right out of the wall.
The person is not doing something foolish. They're
just doing what people naturally do when they
lose your balance. The problem is that the home
is not giving them something safe to grab onto.
Now, kitchens can hide hazards in quieter ways.
Sometimes the danger is not falling. Sometimes
it's overreaching, bending, lifting, or simply
forgetting. Heavy pots stored low can strain
your back. Everyday dishes stored on a high shelf
can lead to unsafe climbing. Medications may
sit next to similar -looking supplements. Cleaning
products may be placed where they're easy to
confuse with something else. A person with mild
memory changes may leave the stove on or forget
food in the oven. These are not character flaws.
These are real life challenges that come with
aging, illness, stress, fatigue, or cognitive
change. I always encourage families to stop asking,
what should this person be able to do, and instead
start asking what setup would make this easier
and safer. That one shift can change everything
and keep everyone, especially senior loved ones,
safer and living independently much longer at
home. Flooring is another area that people tend
to overlook. It's not just about throw rugs.
I mean, those are the big ones, of course. But
I also mean about... transitions between the
rooms. You know, like those small raised thresholds
that are usually between doorways. Flooring that
changes from smooth tile to thick carpet, a curled
edge, a mat that slides, electrical cords across
a walking path. Why would you do that? Even a
glossy floor can be a problem if it causes glare
or makes someone feel unsure of their footing.
The thing about the thresholds is that they can
be high enough to make it difficult to push a
walker through or a cane could catch on it. My
mom -in -law in her late 90s couldn't get to
her bathroom in the middle of the night because
she didn't have the strength to push her wheelchair
across that small threshold between her bedroom
and her bathroom. It was very embarrassing for
her and she called out in the middle of the night,
you know, crying, the poor thing. Now you can
replace that with a very flat threshold. Sometimes
people move more dangerously when they don't
trust the floor beneath them. They shuffle, they
rush. They grab at furniture. They avoid using
the proper steps. Fear changes movement and movement
affects safety. And that's another thing about
those thresholds. If you notice that your senior
loved one or you yourself are beginning to shuffle
and not pick up your feet as much as you used
to, those thresholds can easily trip you up and
you fall over. I mean, these are just simple
little things, but these are the hidden hazards
to look out for. They don't always just create
physical risk. They can slowly chip away at your
confidence because you don't feel safe in your
own home. Okay, then there's the bedroom. Now
this room should be the safest room in the house,
but often it's not. A bed that's too high or
too low can make transfers difficult. A lamp
may be too far away. You have to overreach to
get to it. Shoes may be left by the bed in a
way that creates a tripping risk during nighttime
bathroom trips. Blankets may drag on the floor.
A phone may not be within reach. And the path
to the bathroom from the bed may have poor lighting
or obstacles. These things sound small when we
talk about them one by one, but all of these
small things easily can add up. That is how accidents
happen, not always because of one major failure,
more often because of several little problems
coming together at the wrong moment. And as an
occupational therapist working in rehabilitation,
I can tell you that so many seniors that I worked
with, so many of my patients, came to me because
of accidents, because of these compiled little
issues together. So how do you spot these home
hazards? Well, you start by slowing down and
looking at the home with fresh eyes. Try to notice
what a visitor would notice. Better yet, notice
what an older body would notice. I heard a beautiful
quote today. It said, let's see if I can remember
it. Older people, old people can easily recall
or know what it feels like to be young. But young
people have no idea what it feels like to be
old. So I know that it can be difficult to try
to imagine yourself as an old person if you're
walking through your home. But if you have someone
in mind, that may help. Is there enough room?
So look around. Is there enough room to turn?
Is there something sturdy to hold on to? Is the
light where it is needed? Is the most used item
the easiest to reach? Does the space support
independence or does it quietly fight against
it? Watch daily routines if you can. Notice how
someone gets out of bed. Are they struggling?
Is it easy? How they step into the shower? How
they carry a plate to the table? How they reach
for a pan? How they walk when they're tired,
distracted, or in a hurry? That is often when
the real hazards show up. In occupational therapy,
we did not just look at the person. Our role
was to look at the fit between the person, the
task, and the environment. That matters so much
in aging in place. A home does not need to be
perfect. It just needs to support the person
living in it. And the good news is this. Many
hidden hazards can be fixed with very simple
changes. Better lighting. Clear pathways. Grab
bars in the right places. They're not just for
bathrooms, you know. Safer furniture height.
Frequently used items moved within easy reach,
non -slip surfaces, better organization. Sometimes
even one thoughtful change can make a person
feel more secure right away. If you're listening
to this today and you're wondering whether your
own home or a loved one's home may have hidden
hazards, trust that instinct. You do not need
to wait for a fall or a close call before making
improvements. No one wants to get that call at
2 a .m. that someone has fallen and injured themselves.
In fact, the best time to make a home safer is
before something goes wrong. Take one room this
week, just one. Walk through it slowly. Look
for the things that are easy to miss and ask
yourself what feels awkward, dim, slippery, crowded,
or hard to reach. Those are your clues and start
there. You do not have to fix everything in one
day. You just have to begin noticing. And once
you start noticing, you can make changes that
protect safety, support, independence, and bring
more peace of mind to everyone for everyday life.
And honestly, ask your physician for a referral
for an occupational therapist or a home safety
assessment. That person can come in and can walk
with you through the entire home and show you
some of the hidden hazards that may be right
there in front of you and then help you to correct
them, to fix them. All right. I want to thank
you so much for being here with me today. I hope
that this episode helped you think about home
safety in a new and practical way. And please,
for more tips and helpful resources, visit our
website at seniorsafetyadvice .com. And if you're
looking for aging in place professionals like
occupational therapists and home safety assessments,
be sure to visit our other website at aginginplacedirectory
.com. Subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel
because that helps us to get the word out to
even more people who could use the information.
And until next time, this is Esther Kane wishing
you safety, comfort and confidence at home.