Falls among individuals 65 and older are on the rise, despite much research and clinical effort. Every 11 seconds, an older adult who has fallen is treated in the emergency room for injuries ranging from minor scratches and bruises to fractured bones. More than half of older people hospitalized for hip fractures after a fall never regain their prior levels of mobility or quality of life. Hip fractures are the most devastating injuries from falls. Additionally, in older adults, falls are the main cause of death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall. Despite these grim numbers, falls are not a necessary part of getting older; in fact, the majority of falls are highly preventable.Because no two falls are the same, studying and preventing falls is very challenging.
I’ve spoken with hundreds of senior citizens who have recently fallen, and one thing is abundantly clear: every fall is the result of a special interaction between the person’s balance, the activity they were engaged in right before the fall, and the constantly shifting environment in which they were moving. All of these factors make it challenging to determine the precise reason for a specific fall and all but impossible to find patterns in all falls experienced by older people. The difficulty of falls may hold the secret to preventing them.
It is now abundantly obvious that fall-prevention methods that focus just on a single characteristic with a well-established association with fall risk, such as muscle weakness, do not successfully lower falls among older persons. Researchers now contend that ongoing interventions must focus on a variety of individual and environmental factors in order to prevent older people from falling over time.
The ongoing STRIDE clinical experiment may best illustrate this contemporary attitude. Over 5,400 older adults who are at risk for falling have been enrolled in this pragmatic trial from 86 primary care practice sites across the nation. This study compares the efficiency of the current recommended level of care .Enrollment in the STRIDE experiment has ended, but data collection and effectiveness analyses are still ongoing. Here are five concrete steps you can take to reduce your risk of falling in the interim.
1. Include physical activity in your everyday routine.
In addition to poor posture and endurance, tight, stiff, or weak muscles also affect balance and can cause falls, according to the Harvard Medical School Special Health Report Better Balance. Regular exercise that has been approved by a doctor can help to balance each of these aspects. According to a recent study published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, regular exercise can cut the frequency of falls by 15% and the rate of falls by 23%.
2. Keep your mind engaged.
Recently, researchers have pointed to cognition as a crucial factor.
3. Examine your prescriptions. Use all of your medications exactly as directed, and discuss them all with your doctor. Be mindful that certain medications can cause side effects like drowsiness, vertigo, muscle weakness, and other things that can affect your balance and cause you to fall.
4. Regularly check your hearing and vision.
We rely on our senses of sight and hearing to be balanced as we go about our daily lives. Falls and balance problems can be prevented by using glasses and hearing aids as directed.
5. Make an annual inventory of your home.
To lessen falls and/or stop them from happening repeatedly over time, it’s also crucial to reorganize the bedroom, kitchen, living room, and other common rooms in accordance with your demands. Keep things like medications, clothing, food, dishes, and other daily necessities on hand. Additionally, it’s critical to keep in mind that falls can significantly lower your quality of life, whether or not they result in an injury. Just the thought of falling can make elderly people lose their confidence and become depressed, which can result in loneliness and anxiety when they stop participating in outside activities or social interactions. You may improve your mobility, lower your risk of losing your balance, and help maintain your quality of life for years to come by putting in place a variety of preventive measures early on and regularly reviewing them. I had a bell near my mom’s bedside and had her ring it if she needed anything before she got up so that I could be there to help her. Also, make sure the toilet seat is the right height and use rails o it is easier to get up and down without falling. I also put a bed rail on my mom’s bed so she would not fall out of bed. Another good idea is to remove rugs or runners, they can contribute to a fall. Stay safe!