What this help covers

This help may concern a practical check of the inside of the home: entrance, corridors, living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, stairs, thresholds, night-time pathways and frequently used areas. It may include moving obstructive objects, light tidying, highlighting risk areas, simple improvement of circulation, suggesting visual markers, checking useful lighting or preparing a list of items to be checked by a competent professional. In the district of Hérens, this help may also take into account village access, homes on several levels, weather, wet floors or more difficult movement between the home, cellar, garage or entrance. The aim is to reduce obvious risks of slipping, tripping or losing balance, without making a diagnosis, without medically assessing gait, without deciding on behalf of the person and without carrying out heavy works.

Preferred providers

Before the intervention

• Confirm that the person concerned genuinely wants the help and agrees that the inside of the home may be observed or reorganized in a limited way.
• Identify the places where the person feels unsafe: entrance, corridor, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, stairs, balcony, cellar, night pathway or transition area.
• Identify obvious risks: rugs that slip, cables on the floor, difficult thresholds, unstable furniture, low objects, cluttered floors, lack of light or pathways that are too narrow.
• Do not move a piece of furniture, a support, a chair or an object used for stability without clear agreement and without checking that the person does not lose an important point of reference.
• Plan simple, reversible and understandable solutions: clear a pathway, group useful objects, improve lighting, place a visual marker or prepare a recommendation.
• Check whether a technical intervention requires the owner’s agreement, an authorization, professional fixing or a specialized assessment.
• Take local constraints into account: home access, floor, stairs, weather, parking, distance, cellar, garage or pathway between the entrance and the rooms used.
• Stop the intervention and refer to a professional if the person describes a recent fall, pain, dizziness, discomfort, confusion or significant fear of walking.
• Preserve the confidentiality of the home: do not photograph, share or comment on the interior without explicit agreement and without real necessity.
• Provide a simple summary of the risks observed, the small changes made and the points that require medical, therapeutic or technical advice.

What DomusHelp does not cover

• Medical diagnosis, gait assessment, balance assessment, treatment adaptation or therapeutic advice.
• Intervention after a fall with pain, bleeding, discomfort, loss of consciousness, suspected fracture or medical emergency.
• Choosing, adjusting or prescribing a walker, cane, wheelchair or medical assistive device without a competent professional.
• Installation of grab rails, handrails, load-bearing fixings or safety equipment without appropriate technical competence.
• Electrical work, plumbing, bathroom renovation, structural modification or intervention requiring authorization.
• Removal of objects, furniture or habits against the person’s will or without a clear understanding of their daily usefulness.
• Medical monitoring, restraint, forced limitation of movement or any measure that reduces the person’s freedom without a legal and professional framework.
• Intervention when the person seems confused, under pressure, distressed or unable to understand the proposed changes.
• Promising to remove all risk of falling: the help aims to reduce visible risks, not to guarantee total safety.

Need help organizing fall prevention in the district of Hérens?

DomusHelp can help clarify the request, identify safety limits, prepare a simple intervention and refer the person to an appropriate local provider when the situation goes beyond non-medical practical help.