How can you, as a home care client or family member, best use the information found in this report? In short, be engaged, be constructive and ask questions. Try the following steps:

1. Review each of the different indicators (e.g., falls, skin ulcers, worsening bladder function) and learn which ones apply to you.
2. Read each indicator’s brief description and the ideas for improvement presented (for example, ideas for improving fall rates include better lighting, reduced clutter, affixed carpets, lower beds, hand rails, assistive devices, etc.).
3. Discuss with your home care case manager or staff whether different ideas for improvement are applicable to your home, if they have been tried already or if there are different ways of trying them that you have not thought of before (for example, perhaps safety hazards were removed in the bedroom, but not in other parts of the home).
4. Find out if you have ever had a check for safety hazards in the home by home care staff.
5. Check to see if you are taking one of the medications on the Beers List of drugs to be avoided in the elderly. (Click here to see the Beers List.) When you visit your family doctor, ask him or her if it might be possible to stop a current medication and substitute a safer medication instead.