Fences are all about keeping people safe. An aluminum fence can help keep adults safe in long term care facilities while allowing them time in the outdoors.
One of the fast-growing needs of our culture is excellent care for our elders. The Baby Boomer generation has approached retirement, and they have fewer children to care for them at home. Added to the general effects of aging is the increased rate of mentally impairing diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. Those who suffer from these illnesses need extra security in their homes to keep them safe from leaving and getting confused, lost, or hurt.
Aluminum fences are a safe, appealing option that can provide the help you need to keep members of long-term care facilities safe from others and themselves.
How do they do this?
Sunlight
They allow safe outdoor recreation for adults in these long-term care facilities. Why would outdoor activities be important? Part of our daily vitamin needs include Vitamin D, which is activated by sunlight. Without sunlight, we can take all the vitamins we want, but they will not be beneficial to our bodies.
Sunlight also plays an integral part in our mental and emotional health as well. Too much time away from it often leads to bouts of depression in adults, and some people are more susceptible to this sun-deprived depression than others. Outdoor fencing allows residents of adult care facilities to go outside without concern for their safety and well-being.
Other Forms of Nature
Fencing also allows for the enjoyment of other forms of nature as well. Flower gardens are very popular among adult residential care facilities. They help provide an aesthetically pleasing environment where their residents can enjoy the beauty of nature and find a sense of peace for themselves and calm in the midst of what is often a troubled life, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Some facilities have fenced in areas where they keep animals as well, as a form of therapy for their residents. Dogs and cats are sometimes popular as inside/outside animals, but other animals, such as rabbits, goats, and other “petting zoo” type animals have been used as well. Aluminum fences help designate certain areas as recreational places and
protects them from intruders as well as
preventing the animals from running away.
Physical Activities
In certain situations, if they are physically able, adult residents of long-term care facilities are invited not only to enjoy looking at or walking in these gardens and other recreational areas, they are invited to help maintain them as well. Some form of physical work is always helpful in older ages, to keep brain functions working well. Body and mind often follow one another in their health, and an idle body often leads to an idle mind as well. Giving residents the opportunity to water or even plant flower beds can go a long way in keeping their mental faculties sharp and healthy.
Gates and Alarms
Often, these kinds of activities need supervision. Aluminum fences with
locked gates help keep residents out and away from these gardening areas when there is no supervision or when professional preparations are being done in them. They also can be fitted with electronic locks or alarms to prevent your residents from going in and out of the areas unsupervised. Residents with memory problems will feel more secure in a fenced in area in which they cannot easily get lost. They will still be able to experience and enjoy the gift of nature and the joy of getting out in the sun.
Safety and Security
In adult long-term care facilities, the idea of fences may seem uncomfortably close to prison walls. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Fences provide the opportunity of allowing anyone to come and go as they please, but only through monitored entryways, which gives you control not only over who can leave the grounds but also who can enter.
With the rise of drug addictions, adult care facilities have often become prime targets for thieves who come in under the guise of visiting family members and steal whatever drugs, jewelry, or money they can from the residents of these facilities. By installing fences around the property, you help reduce the risk of theft from your facility or your resident’s property.
Attractive Appearance
The last note about aluminum fences in adult long-term care facilities is that it usually makes the property more attractive. It will increase your property value, and there are several different styles you can choose from to match your building decor and the environment you wish to create for your residents. Some vinyl style fences even mimic wooden picket fences giving you all the benefits of their simple elegance without the hard maintenance of keeping
wooden fences painted and repaired.
If you currently own or plan to own an adult long-term care facility, be sure to check in with your local aluminum fencing supply to help you provide a safe and free environment for your residents and a beautiful addition to your property.
