Almost every fourth American citizen above 65 falls each year, often leaving the victims with life impacting injuries. Different rooms pose varying levels of risk for seniors, for example falls tend to occur much more regularly in the living room but have more severe outcomes if they happen in the bathroom. And the reason why 30% of falls happen in the living room is because that’s the main stage for cleaning and household chores.
Many experts point towards dusting, vacuuming and tidying as excellent activities for the elderly as a healthy form of exercise. It’s also said that an unclean or messy environment reduces the aging resident’s ability to maneuver in the home, therefore increasing the risk of losing balance or tripping – just think about all that junk littered on the floor waiting to be organized.
However, it’s quite a vicious cycle, since the mere act of doing a chore may lead to falling, even though the act was done in order to prevent it in the first place! Outsourcing the task to a cleaning lady solves only half of the problem, since seniors then have even less incentive to keep their body moving, not to mention the extra strain put on their limited budget.
The more sensible option, then, would be to arm your beloved seniors with reliable cleaning tools that spare them from risky moves and unnecessary actions.
Dust is humanity’s long-standing enemy; we have waged wars for centuries, but to no avail. While seniors are scouting for stains, dust and smears on the counter, they also often need to reach higher areas. In this situation a moment of balance loss is enough for the elderly dust hunter to land on the floor.
For high reaching cleaning duties, aging homeowners need two key items: a stable step ladder and a multifunctional cleaning kit with an extendable pole, the former of which is self-explanatory. The shaky old wooden ladder simply won’t do anymore, so seniors should invest into a foldable two or four step ladder made from sturdy steel.
Unlike ‘true’ mopping – which requires a bucket – dry sweeping cloths don’t leave behind a big puddle of water, which will obviously help save the resident from an unwanted slip. The cloth pads can be attached to the end of the sweeper, which can then easily be disposed of when it’s gathered enough dirt. There’s no need for constant hunching and dipping over the bucket, which will be a huge relief for seniors with back problems.
The cloths are often enhanced with pleasing flavors like vanilla, too, leaving a nice scent afterwards. On top of all that, they can dissolve stains and grime three times faster, while also collecting crumbs, dirt and hair.
Since we live in 21st century, seniors are able to enlist more advanced helpers. Robotic vacuum cleaners save their owners from the bother of cleaning the floor so they can concentrate on other tasks. These handy little robot cleaners pick up everything from small dirt particles to large debris, and they won’t leave a spot while it has a stubborn stain on it.
And back on the topic of mopping, there is a special type of robot that does that as well. They swipe the floor either wet or dry, while avoiding any visible obstacles. However, seniors should not get complacent around their robot servants: if they let a Roomba out of sight and don’t notice that the floor is freshly mopped, they could end up with a nasty fall.
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