Oita Godo Newspaper (morning edition on November 9th, 2008)
Senior Citizens' Accidents Occur Frequently at Home
According to the information from National Lifestyle and Welfare Centre, senior citizens' (above 65 years old) accidents often occur at home. The features of senior citizens' accidents at home are as following.
Accidents that often happen are "bruises", "contusions", "puncture wounds", "cuts", "bone fractures", "burns", etc. Especially , when compared to people who are under 65 years old, those senior citizens who live independently tend to have bone fractures.
According to the order, stairs is a place where the accidents happen most frequently. Following are floor, beds, and bathrooms.
Almost 60% of the accidents occured because of the senior citizens stumbled and fell down. Even though there are cases when they fell down from the roof or high places, many of them fell down when they are walking normally on the floor.
Burns are the most frequent cases which have caused death. For example, burns happen when they got into bathtubs filled with boiling water, and when the clothes that they were wearing caught fire.
To prevent "stumbles" and "falls" are similar, some inventions can be made. For instance, reducing the distance of steps of stairs, providing handrails to hold, and providing lights or illuminations on the floor so that they can walk safely. Also, accidents can be prevented by not putting the things that people might stumble over, or not wearing shoes and slippers that slip easily. When working on high places, as much as possible ask professionals and young people for assistance, and do not perform the work or operations alone.
So as to prevent from "burns", "drownings", and "heart problems" in the bathrooms, it is necessary to warm the bathrooms first before taking a bath. Also, pay attention and be alert to the temperature of the hot-water supply and the showers. Moreover, it is quite hard to realize that the clothes catch fire, it is good to be careful with the sleeves and hems of the clothes.
In order to prevent "chokings", after sipping tea to wet the throat, it is recommended to eat slowly, little by little. Cut the food that are sticky into small slices. The surrounding people also have to care and they should not start a conversation suddenly..
Comments: Today, Japan has a growing population of senior citizens. It is necessary to pay attention to their needs and as much as possible look into their problems in life and help to solve them. When human beings get older, the bodies become weaker so accidents will happen more easily. It is important for every one of us to realize that we have to support them in any way we can. Helping them to prevent accidents is one of the things that you can do to make a differernce in their lives.
NUGROHO Katarina Marsha Utama
Indonesia
APM2, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Leave a comment