Fall Prevention
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2006), “more than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year in the United States.”
They further report that “in 2005, 15,800 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls; about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls, and more than 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized” (CDC, 2008).
The CDC recommends that seniors take the following precautions to try and prevent falls:
- Exercise regularly
- Have a medical professional (physician or pharmacist) review their medications (prescription and non-prescription)
- Have an eye doctor check their vision (yearly)
- Improve in-home lighting
- Eliminate hazards in the home that can lead to falls.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) provides a fantastic checklist for reference when providing home improvements to help prevent falls.
If you know of a low-income senior citizen that’s home is in need of updating, please refer them to Rebuilding America (800.473.4229). This is a national organization that is dedicated to repairing and modifying the homes of low-income homeowners. They have programs especially targeted to the elderly allowing them the opportunity to age in place. Localized information can be found on their website under the “Find Your Local Affiliate” link.
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Comments
If your parent is in an assisted living community and still manages to fall, what do you do? Many assisted living communities have very little staff to resident ratio. Just enough to follow the local state rule. Usually it’s 1:15 during the day and 1:25 at night. So what do you do if your mom or dad fall in an assisted living community? Often, assisted living communities will tell that that will keep a closer eye on your parent or even hike up a level of care charge on your next bill. When it is clear to you that there needs to be more caregivers, but you can’t afford any, then consider placing your loved in a personal care home where the staff to resident ratio is almost 1:2. Visit http://www.safehavenpch.com to learn more about this personal care home.
[...] an earlier post (”Fall Prevention” posted by lmcgowan on January 14, 2009), I provided readers with an overview of the many [...]