EP #12: Enhancing Senior Lives with Practical Home Improvements

Are you aware that nearly 90% of seniors who receive help within the first hour of falling can continue living independently, but if left for 12 hours, this number drops to just 10%. On this episode of the Comfort Keepers Daily Podcast, Kristi Gurule and Jeremy Wolf unravel startling statistics and impactful solutions regarding home safety and fall prevention for our elderly loved ones. We’ll be sharing crucial insights into how comprehensive home safety assessments can prevent falls, examining everything from door locks to rug placements. Additionally, we dive into the importance of proper nutrition and exercise to maintain muscle mass and overall health—ensuring seniors not only live safely but thrive.

We explore practical strategies to keep seniors active and prevent falls, discussing physical activities like weight training, yoga, and outdoor activities such as walking and pickleball. Learn about essential home safety improvements, including securing rugs, organizing pet-related items, and installing bathroom safety features to create a safer living environment. Moreover, we highlight the vital role caregivers play in these efforts, alongside expressing our heartfelt gratitude to Kristi for her invaluable contributions. Don’t miss this empowering episode aimed at keeping our seniors safe, active, and mentally refreshed. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to continuing this important conversation in future episodes.

Please visit our website for more information: https://www.comfortkeepers.com/offices/florida/davie/

Transcript

Jeremy Wolf: 0:02

Welcome to the Comfort Keepers Davy Podcast, where we elevate the human spirit. Here's your host, Christy Groulet. Hello, hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Comfort Keepers Davy Podcast. I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolf, joined by your host, Christy Groulet.

Kristi Gurule: 0:23

Good morning everyone Good morning, Christy.

Jeremy Wolf: 0:28

So nice to see you again.

Kristi Gurule: 0:30

It's good to see you. It's been a minute.

Jeremy Wolf: 0:32

It has and you are in. I would say you're in sunny South Florida, but it's not so sunny right.

Kristi Gurule: 0:37

I was very surprised I came after all the rain, but yes, this morning was very rainy All right.

Jeremy Wolf: 0:43

Well, what is the topic of conversation today?

Kristi Gurule: 0:48

I always like to circle or surround our conversations around hot topics that are happening every day and, like all trends, you see things come and go. There's always constants. But here lately there's been a lot, a lot of conversation around home safety and falling. So before we started our show, we talked about the ever famous commercial help. I've fallen.

Jeremy Wolf: 1:19

Fallen and. I can't get up yeah.

Kristi Gurule: 1:22

Worst commercial, sorry that there's ever been, but in the true sense of it. When somebody falls, it's not a laughing matter at all, it's not, and you and I might trip in our home and we're able to catch our balance on whatever is nearest to us.

Jeremy Wolf: 1:41

Not so much anymore. I got to say.

Kristi Gurule: 1:43

Well, I want you to think about right now the last time you tripped over something in your house, a toy, whatever it is your own feet, because that happens to me, and we might stumble, but we may not fall completely to the ground.

Kristi Gurule: 1:58

And our seniors, though, that stability is much less, um, that muscle and reaction is much less, reaction time slower, and so what we might be able to recover from quickly by just readjusting ourselves.

Kristi Gurule: 2:15

Our seniors, our elderly, will end up on the floor, and there's a statistic that I came across that was really is a statistic that I came across that was really, really impactful, because it stated and this is out of a New England journal for elderly science and falling statistics okay, but 90% of seniors who fall and are assisted within the hour, within that hour so hopefully there's somebody at home or there's emergency personnel that are notified they will continue to live independent in their home 90 of them, however, after 12 hours which sounds astonishing, right, but someone can lay on their floor for 12 hours that statistic drops to only about 10 percent of seniors will then continue to live independently, and there's a lot of things that go into that, and I've encountered many, many a family member that we've talked, or even clients that are now clients who have laid on the floor just hoping that somebody is going to come check on them because they cannot get up.

Kristi Gurule: 3:22

And that's such a terrifying, like scary thing. So many things mentally, emotionally, physically are happening to that individual. And whenever anybody has injured themselves so maybe it isn't a fall, but I know that when I was a gymnast and I had an injury that once I was better, I tend to think in my head okay, I could hurt myself again, right. And sometimes, if our mind is already there that I've had this happen and I'm worried about it happening again, we tend to try to take different steps to prevent it when in fact we're really putting our ourselves in more danger. So we're not as confident as we were before and silly things can happen out of that.

Jeremy Wolf: 4:10

Yeah.

Kristi Gurule: 4:10

Like Our elderly, once they've fallen and they do get to come home which that would be the ultimate goal that they're home now, they're scared of tripping, they're scared of showering, of getting in and out of their bathtub or shower. They're worried about these things, and so you might see a senior become more secluded. They don't do things as often because they've fallen and they don't want to do that again. They don't regularly care for their personal hygiene because they're more worried about the anticipation of a fall or a potential, and that's a very sad state to live in, right? So we have these conversations and they're very real, and our goal is that seniors, elderly, they can live in their home confidently, not just safely, but confidently knowing.

Kristi Gurule: 5:06

So a part of the services that we bring to someone's home is to do an entire home safety assessment, and that is everything from. Are the doors lockable, like? How easy can somebody get in and out of your home? What kind of carpets do we have? Rugs, are they not stacked on the end tables next to the couch right? Or the bedside? How high is the bed off of the ground? What other obstacles might there be between the bedroom and the restroom? Or what is it like walking down the hallway. Where are the light switches? So it's a very in-depth home safety assessment to make reasonable suggestions to prevent future falls, but also just to make it easier for people to move and work in the environment that they want to remain living in.

Jeremy Wolf: 5:59

Yeah, I was going to ask you about the preventative measures, right, because what is that? An ounce of prevention? What's the saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say, something like that.

Jeremy Wolf: 6:13

But before I get into that, a couple of things were resonating with me. Right, it was the commercial that you alluded to I've fallen but I can't get out. Yeah, remember when I was young you would hear that and to kind of chuckle because you're young, right. But as I'm getting older now and like my body starts to ache a lot and it's a little bit more difficult for me to get in and out of the car and out of the bed, it's not bad, but I feel it right now it starts looming on you and you start thinking like, wow, I really need to start and this goes into this, preventative measures I really need to start taking care of myself, nutrition-wise, exercise-wise, like building muscle mass. That's the thing that starts to go real quickly.

Jeremy Wolf: 6:51

And I run a lot now, but I don't do a lot of physical weight training like strength training, and I find myself I still run many miles but my body hurts terribly afterwards. I think that is largely in part to the fact that I'm not doing a lot of strength training. So, in terms of preventative measures, obviously, well, first, what are some? You said you come in and you do an assessment of the house. What are some common modifications or things that you typically might run into or do in the house. And then, what are some things that our seniors can do in terms of just taking care of themselves, exercise-wise, to strengthen themselves so that they're more resilient to falling in the first place?

Kristi Gurule: 7:31

Absolutely so let's actually start with that Weight training. We're not talking about deadlifts or anything like that. You can even go walking with weighted little ankle straps or even the little wrist things that you can hold Even something as minor as that a one pound or half a pound and walk, walk with that. That is still considered your weight training. Yoga, senior yoga, chair yoga Yoga is phenomenal for muscle building you wouldn't imagine that but also your flexibility, and a lot of times when we're reacting to anything that we're trying to overcome, when we're walking like an obstacle, it's really, yeah, muscle, but then it's our flexibility to be able to, you know, go left to right or whatever it is that we're doing. So yoga is something that I'm seeing really a lot more people take part in because it is not as strenuous and you can take it, you know, very slowly, but again you feel good afterwards. Very slowly, but again you feel good afterwards. You should not be hurting bad after yoga, but you can see yourself improving through different yoga experiences.

Jeremy Wolf: 8:43

Question for you. I'm sorry to cut you off there Now. When Comfort Keepers comes in to a home, obviously you do bathing, shopping, companionship, things like that. I'd imagine that part of that routine for many of your clients is some kind of exercise to do these types of things like walking around, go to the park, maybe go out and play pickleball or something like that. Right, that's the new phrase. Oh, absolutely.

Kristi Gurule: 9:08

Oh gosh, pickleball, yes, and I don't know a thing about pickleball, but, yes, I have plenty of people that love for their caregiver to join them at the Y or the senior center that they go to or at any gym, being able to go outside and, here in Florida, go to the beach. Right, that's incredible. Yes, we want to encourage people to get out safely Right, not in 101 degree weather, but get out safely and move. That's good for everyone.

Jeremy Wolf: 9:37

And there's really not just for the body but also the mind.

Kristi Gurule: 9:40

For the mind. Absolutely, absolutely. There's nothing like just soaking in that sun and fresh air, right? I've always been told that if you are inside for too long, you need to step out and just touch something that's alive, right? Something in nature and that like grounds you. It's alive, right, something in nature and that like grounds you, it's just, it really is. It's a good practice for everyone, but we absolutely love and we want to know what our clients are excited about doing or what is something that they haven't been able to do because they haven't been able to get there. What can we help bring back to them? And that's a really fun thing. I have a client that we now take to a horse arena and there's horse therapy there, a horse arena.

Jeremy Wolf: 10:20

Yes, and it's such an incredible thing what's a horse arena?

Kristi Gurule: 10:23

Well, like where horses are boarded and they do horse therapy. Can you believe that it's so incredible?

Jeremy Wolf: 10:29

I've heard of horse therapy. I just haven't heard the two words horse and arena put together, like I hear. Like a barn, a stable, not a horse.

Kristi Gurule: 10:36

I'm thinking of a large space. I mean, maybe we want to take our clients to a racetrack. That's fine, it's not out of the question. I'm just saying that this is just another example of someone who used to go to the horse stables and couldn't get there anymore, and so we've been able to come in and experience something new with them and bring that joy to their life again. So we're going to go back into the client's home now.

Kristi Gurule: 11:03

One of the main things I can't even tell you one of the main things, the easiest thing that we come across that we make the first recommendation of is get rid of the runners, the rugs that are in the hallway that are right after you walk in, or make sure that they are securely, like seriously fastened to the floor, not an anti-skid.

Kristi Gurule: 11:27

That's not going to stop someone who gets their toe underneath the end of it, right, but really, rugs. Rugs are one of the easiest things to change out to prevent falls. How many of our seniors have a pet? Seriously, everybody has a pet and we would never suggest not to have a pet. However, there are a lot of things that our pets require, and whether that's their dog bed, their toys, everything that's everywhere and no matter how big or small this dog or cat or whatever animal that they have, they also pose a risk. So we try to look at where everything is staged in the house and sometimes just having a better central location will help eliminate there being sporadic things throughout, like normal, I would say, heavier traffic areas in the home.

Jeremy Wolf: 12:27

The bathroom is the number one place where people fall, it is.

Kristi Gurule: 12:31

The floors get wet. Right, floors get wet. Yes, people fall trying to get up from the toilet. Even so, having a grab bar is something that's really important, or even suggesting a raised toilet seat is also very helpful. These are very common things that I see At times. Maybe, on an extreme, we might connect them with someone who can do like a bath remodel, a rebath, you know where now there's a walk-in bathtub, just depending on what the space and really what would matter, and sometimes that's not something that comes until much, much, much later. But even anti-skid strips or shower chair, these are all things that can be used in the bathroom to help maintain their safety.

Jeremy Wolf: 13:20

Now, you're doing this assessment. Are you also actually implementing these safeguards? You're doing this assessment? Are you also actually implementing these safeguards or you just make the recommendations for them to.

Kristi Gurule: 13:27

We have we have great connections to help have these things installed. But no, I do not come in and install them into the drywall or anything like that.

Jeremy Wolf: 13:36

Um not my fault. I didn't think so, I was just curious In my own home?

Kristi Gurule: 13:41

Yes, but we do. We do want to make sure that they feel good about whoever they're contracting with, and we have great recommendations, because it's a very normal thing that we come across.

Jeremy Wolf: 13:51

That's what I wanted to make sure of. Right Was that you weren't going in there and I know you wouldn't do this but go in there and give them a whole laundry list of things to do and then just say all right, now go figure it out, right, like call all these contractors. So obviously you have a network of people and you can make them this year all about great people.

Kristi Gurule: 14:06

Yep, yep, great people that we trust, that we refer to, and again, these. This is to keep our clients safe, or safer, but then also the caregiver that I'm sending into the home. We want to set everybody up for success, and so there's a variety of things that come into the home. Assessment and being able to look at the location in each room is one part, but then you know there are other factors that play into it too. Does this person have a history of falling? Do they have certain medical conditions that make them more prone to falling? What is their age? All of these things. Then. With an algorithm that we have, we then calculate really what is the fall risk and how can we help prevent that More than oh gosh. 90% of our clients have a personal emergency response system, which is either a watch or a necklace, and most people are opting for the watch because it looks like, you know, like an eye, like an Apple watch or something. It's very sleek and they have a fall detection alert on these watches.

Kristi Gurule: 15:08

So should a fall happen, so important, should a fall happen at a restaurant, at the beach, at the gym, it doesn't matter where you're at. It uses AT&T and Verizon Towers to ping where you're at. You get a voice that comes up on your watch and says hey, do you need? Probably not just like this, but essentially do you need any medical attention? So, no matter where this individual is traveling, it does not matter. They can ask for a medical team to come and, based on location, they're able to send people out. So it's just an extra layer of security and helping to provide them further independence.

Jeremy Wolf: 15:47

My, how useful that would have been for my brother's wife's father recently, just a few months ago I think. He had a minor stroke and he was living in a place. It was not fully assisted living, but it was a property that was there, but I guess they didn't check on him too regularly. Well, anyway, he was incapacitated, did not have a device like that and he was on the floor for, I think, a couple of days before they found him there.

Jeremy Wolf: 16:15

And he just couldn't move, couldn't do anything, he was just stuck. And they found him there and he just couldn't move, couldn't do anything, he was just stuck. And they finally, thank god somebody came in and and found him and he's okay now. But you know, it's scary just like you said.

Kristi Gurule: 16:23

it's very scary, and can you? I can't imagine being that individual to feel that sense of helplessness like I am here. Surely somebody is going to come and then they don't, and then they don't. So oftentimes when we meet with families for the first time, if we're not coming in to provide personal care services, that's, that is fine. But we'd love to be able to at least get you set up with a we call them PERS units instead of the personal emergency response system. We like to get them set up with a watch or a necklace again, just for everyone's peace of mind, and then we monitor that. So I would get an alert immediately if a fall happens and a full, detailed analysis of where this person was. Did they require EMS? Did they require anything else? Did they deny help? And then I'm like that middle person to then also make sure the family is aware. Like hey, this happened. We've already gone and checked, he was checked, everybody is fine, but whereas before maybe that information would not have been known.

Jeremy Wolf: 17:26

So important to raise awareness around this type of stuff, because so many people I mean we all do right we think, oh, it'll never happen to me until it happens to you, absolutely. And you're the one laying there on the floor like man, I should have done something sooner. So, yeah, it's really important.

Kristi Gurule: 17:42

And it's a very easy thing to wear a watch right. Wear a full functioning watch. That's not just for falling and um and be discreet. Be discreet about this extra layer of protection that you have and continue about your day, and it's just a just in case.

Jeremy Wolf: 17:59

Very cool. Anything else that we're missing here on this topic? I'm sure there's quite a few things, but is there anything else you want to share?

Kristi Gurule: 18:08

Honestly, without going into a whole another half hour, Jeremy. The one other thing I would just say and we can talk about this in depth later is the other safety feature in the home that is often overlooked or just not really thought of as a hazard is medication, and there's just a lot around medication and the number of medications that somebody is taking and who's helping them put their medication, you know, in their planners, and how are they administering it. How do we know if they've missed medication. So we do have we do have some tips and some devices that can help remind people to take their medication, especially if it's not just once a day or even twice a day. There are people that have to take medication every two hours and they may fall asleep, they may forget. So we do have some devices to recommend for those things too, just to help maintain medication accuracy.

Jeremy Wolf: 19:12

Very cool. Christy, we appreciate all the great things you do for our lovely community here.

Kristi Gurule: 19:16

So thanks for all you do yeah, good stuff Good stuff, all right.

Jeremy Wolf: 19:21

Well, everyone, thank you so much for tuning in and we will look forward to seeing you next time on the next episode of the Comfort Keepers Daily Podcast. Everyone take care, have a great day. Thank you for listening to the Comfort Keepers Davey podcast. For more information, visit comfortkeeperscom or call 954-947-7954.