How to check home safety for an older adult
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Most falls in older adults happen at home. A home safety check finds simple fixes that prevent injury.
Step by step
Check floors
Remove loose rugs, cords and clutter from walkways. [1]
Improve lighting
Add bright lights in halls and stairs and a night light on the way to the bathroom. [1]
Make stairs safe
Secure handrails on both sides and mark step edges. [1]
Make the bathroom safe
Add grab bars, nonslip mats and a shower chair if needed. [1]
Arrange the kitchen
Keep often-used items at waist height to avoid step stools. [1]
Check medicines and alarms
Store medicines clearly labeled. Check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. [2]
Plan for emergencies
Keep a phone in reach and consider a medical alert device. [1]
Common errors
- Leaving throw rugs in walkways.
- No grab bars in the bathroom.
- No way to call for help after a fall.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Fall risk at home, older adult
- Parkinson disease, home safety
- Intimate partner violence in pregnancy
- Neonatal jaundice
- Bleeding after prostatectomy
- Tension pneumothorax
30 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
Facts and steps follow CDC STEADI (falls in older adults); NCSBN 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan. Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.