The point where a family stops asking whether something is wrong and starts asking who is responsible for the house is usually the third incident. This guide is about the floor, not the body. The path through the house is a set of objects that somebody has to keep in place, check, and replace. If nobody owns that list, the path drifts back to where it was before the last incident.
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Walk the route he uses at night
Walk from the bed to the bathroom, from the bed to the kitchen, and from the bed to the side door, under the lighting he actually keeps. Note every object in the path: rugs, cords, shoes, boxes, a laundry basket, a chair pushed into a corner, a pet bowl. Note the edges of anything that lifts, curls, or slides.
Decide what changes and what stays
Some items are simple to remove, such as loose cords, stray shoes, and boxes stacked by a door. Others are a negotiation. A rug Dad loves can often move out of the path and into a room he does not cross. If the rug stays, check the backing and the edges, decide whether it needs a non-slip underlay or a tape edge, and check it again after a week of regular walking on it.
Name one owner for the list
Write the path list on one page and give it an owner. That person walks the route once a week, confirms the list, and decides whether anything new has entered the path. If the owner is you, say so and say how often. If it is a neighbor or a relative, ask whether they will walk the route and report back in writing.
Recheck after every change
The path changes with every delivery, visit, and pile of clutter. Any new chair, box, or cord that lands in the path goes on the list before the next night. Keep the list in the same drawer as the flashlight, so the next person who walks the route knows exactly where it is.
Keep the talk on the route
When Dad pushes back, talk about the route he takes and what needs to be out of it, not about his balance or his age. Asking which rug he wants where he can still see it gets further than telling him he should have seen the one he tripped over.
Next move
Tonight, walk the bed-to-bathroom route with the lights set the way he keeps them and a flashlight in hand, and write down the three objects you would catch a foot on. Move two of them out of the path before you leave, and put the third on the list with a name beside it.