Some safety tips to help out your parents

In the earlier stages of dementia and/or Alzheimer's, your parents may still be living on their own, or perhaps with you. Here are some tips to help keep them safe.

1. Turn the temperature on the water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and label all hot-water faucets clearly with large red letters.

2. Because people with dementia can get easily lost, get your parent an identification bracelet that says "Memory Loss" and an address and phone number. Here's also a resource for temporary tattoos: http://safetytat.com/order/  (They are geared for children, but some are generic enough for adults - if anyone knows of a more grownup version of these, please let us know!) Alert local police and neighbors to the situation so if they see him, they will know to keep an eye in case it looks like he or she is wandering away. Also sigh your parent up with the <a href="http://www.alz.org/we_can_help_medicalert_safereturn.asp">Alzheimer's Association's Safe Return Program</a> that helps locate people with Alzheimer's who get lost.

3. If your parent wanders, put locks on doors leading outside, high or low on the door so your parent can't easily find them, or bells on doors so you know when your parent has exited.

4. Post by every phone a clearly written list of emergency numbers - there are apparently some phones out there with large buttons where you can label them with photos for easy dialing.

5. Install handrails and grab bars. Remove loose rugs and clutter. Buy a cane or walker if needed.

6. Lock any cabinets (or install childproof latches) on cabinets that contain dangerous chemicals or other dangerous items. Check for hazards outside the house, such as paints, saws, grills, lighter fluid.

7. Removed the bedroom and bathroom door locks that are located inside the door so he or she can't accidentally lock themselves in.

8. Your parent should not smoke unattended due to risk of fire.

9 If your parent has trouble operating the stove, remove the knobs.

10. Driving will have to stop fairly early on. See <a href="http://www.caring.com/life/driving">our section on DRIVING</a> for more tips on how to help facilitate this.

11. Remove artificial fruit, food-shaped magnets, or anything else that might be confused for food. (Those interestingly shaped bottles of dishsoap that look like juice bottles are one thing to look for.) Sometimes even small items stored in the kitchen such as thumbtacks, erasers, corks can be mistaken for food, so store them somewhere else.

12. Place decals at eye level on any glass doors or large windwos so your parent doesn't mistakenly try to walk through the glass.

Anyone else have any other safety tips to share? Please do!