Patient/caregiver was educated on fall safety and precautions for gouty arthritis patients as follows:
- Wear clothing with pockets to carry essential items, such as, telephone, personal alert systems. Make sure you leave these essential items on the nightstand located within an arm reach, which helps with easy access, if need be. They come in handy to call for help during emergencies and falls. Also, carrying the essential items in the pockets will leave the hands to hold the assistive device and other supportive structures firmly to avoid falls.
- Pain and stiffness in the weightbearing joints of arthritis patients can lead to compromised balance. Shoes with pointed heels can compromise the balance further in these patients and promote risk for falls & accidents. Observing compliance with wearing flats can promote safety & security in arthritis patients.
- Tenderness and stiffness in the joints can lead to poor balance and compromised safety. Rearranging shelves in the bedroom, closets, kitchen, and refrigerator with items that are used regularly put in the upper shelves, to help an easy reach. Avoid using the lower shelves, as it needs them to bend to access them. Also, avoid placing items so high that they need to stretch heavily to reach out to them. Severe stretching and bending can further compromise balance in arthritis individuals, leading to falls. Using long handle reacher can help pick or reach out to items located too low or too high.
- Have the house well-lighted. Maintain easy access to the switch board, to avoid accessing difficult areas in the dark. Having a remote to turn the light on and off can be of extra help. Leaving a nightlamp on showing the path from bed to the restroom can help prevent accidents during the night. Maintaining a torch or flashlight at bedside can help during power shortage. Having a bedside commode and urinal can help reduce restroom trips during the night in a dazed state.
