Your Home! It Should Be Where You're Safest.
Our home is our sanctuary — but the same layout that feels familiar and comfortable can also hide the exact hazards most likely to cause a fall or injury. A home safety evaluation is a hands-on, room-by-room assessment of your living space, paired with my clinical knowledge of how injuries and falls actually happen, to catch what a general inspection or well-meaning family member might miss.
What a Home Safety Evaluation Covers
I walk through your home the way you actually use it, looking closely at:
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Bathrooms — grab bar placement, tub/shower entry, toilet height, non-slip surfaces
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Stairs and thresholds — lighting, handrail sturdiness, step height consistency, transitions between flooring types
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Bedrooms — bed height, clear pathways to the bathroom (especially for nighttime trips), nightlight placement
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Living areas — loose rugs, cord placement, furniture arrangement and stability for support while walking
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Kitchen — reachability of frequently used items, stable footing at the stove and counters
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Lighting throughout — both natural and artificial, since poor lighting is one of the most common and most fixable fall risk factors
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Entryways — exterior steps, railings, and surfaces, especially relevant for Idaho winters
What Happens After the Evaluation
You'll receive a clear, prioritized list of recommendations — not a generic checklist, but specific to what I actually observe in your home. Some recommendations are simple and low-cost (removing a rug, adding a nightlight, rearranging a walking path). Others might involve equipment (grab bars, a raised toilet seat, a shower chair) or, occasionally, a referral for a more significant home modification. I'll help you understand what matters most to address first.
If you're already working with me on fall prevention or post-surgical recovery, the home safety evaluation is often folded directly into that plan — since the environment you're recovering in matters just as much as the exercises you're doing.
Who Benefits Most
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Older adults living independently, or family members concerned about a parent's home setup
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Anyone returning home after a hospital stay, surgery, or extended illness
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Anyone who has had a "near miss" — a stumble or close call, even without an actual fall
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Adult children preparing a parent's home for aging in place
A Small Investment That Prevents a Big Setback
A single fall can mean a hospital stay, a loss of independence, or a much longer road back to normal life. A home safety evaluation is a proactive, practical way to reduce that risk — often by addressing things you'd never think to look for on your own.