Home Safety & Everyday Care

Everyday Care

• Bathing
• Daily Activities
• Exercise and Physical Activity
• Going Out
• Grooming and Dressing
• Healthy Eating
• Incontinence
• Managing Medicines
• Traveling Overnight
• Long Distance Caregiving (NIA)

Home Safety

•  Home Safety Worksheet
•  Standard bath examples
• Disaster Preparedness
• Going to the Hospital
• Home Safety
• Wandering

After someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, families soon have many questions about home safety:

• What should I worry about first?
• What are the most important safety modifications to make? What works?
• Where do I find home safety items that are reasonably priced?
• Professional staff may be concerned too, and ask: What will families find acceptable?

This Worksheet for home safety is designed to answer these questions. It was developed as a result of the Home Safety Project at the EN Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital , Bedford MA where 62 families agreed to a home safety visit by a nurse and occupational therapist.

Although the Home Safety Project was a clinical research study, the study investigators considered the project as a partnership with the family caregiver who is the “expert” in the patient’s behavior. The family caregiver is the person responsible for the patient’s safety and well being on a daily basis and therefore we are concerned for the well being of the caregiver too.

We are grateful to the families who allowed us into their homes and for their participation in this research project that will help other families coping with Alzheimer’s disease.

* Supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs Nursing Research Initiative (NRI-97030), Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; School of Nursing , Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University ; Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center (AG13846); and Boston College School of Nursing.