Your senior’s shoes might have more to do with her fall risk than she might think. And if your elderly family member keeps refusing to wear shoes, that’s probably even more accurate. Understanding the connections between shoes and falls can help to convince your senior that proper footwear is a safety issue.
Falls and Injuries
Falls can happen for a variety of different reasons. They’re never a good thing, mainly because of the physical and psychological impact they have on your senior. A fall can result in serious injuries to your senior’s arms, shoulders, hands, and head. She may also injure her hips, legs, and spine. All of this is bad news, especially if the injury is severe enough. Many people who fall and injure themselves experience lifelong results of that fall.
The Connection with Shoes
But what do falls have to do with your senior’s shoes? Well, your senior’s feet are where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. If your elderly family member’s feet aren’t protected and are not connecting well with the ground, for whatever reason, that can easily lead to a fall. Your senior’s shoes need to fit well, offer non-skid soles, and help her to avoid tripping.
Ideal Characteristics for Shoes
Ideally your senior’s shoes should offer her a solid connection to the floor while also help her to feet to avoid being too hot or too cold and definitely protected from any water. Your senior may have specific needs in terms of arch support, too, which is important to factor in. Her shoes need to be comfortable and easy for her to wear, otherwise she may avoid them and that can cause big problems.
Match the Shoes to the Activity
It’s also important to match the shoes to the activity for your elderly family member. If she’s planning to start walking, she definitely needs dedicated walking shoes. These are going to help protect and support her feet as she walks on a regular basis. In winter, your senior needs footwear suited for that weather. She needs to have a non-skid sole and preferably waterproof uppers.
Lots of people don’t like wearing shoes and that’s understandable. But when it comes to your senior’s safety, she may have to go ahead and wear them anyway. Something else that can help is to have help from elder care providers to make sure that her environment is as safe from fall risks as possible.