Aging In Place And The Risk Of Falls

Ask a room full of seniors this question, “how many of you would like to age in your own home”? 99% of all hands will shoot in the air. However, when it comes to aging in place, the issue is that as we age, our ability to navigate in our homes decreases.

On another note, ask the room “how many of you have arthritis or osteoarthritis, COPD or any heart condition”, and 90% will raise their hands confirming that they know they have limitations. To be safe in the home, these aging seniors must take their fall risks seriously or they may end up in the hospital.

Each year, thousands of older Americans fall at home. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an older adult is treated in a hospital emergency room for a fall everyone 18 seconds, and every 35 minutes an older adult dies as a result of a fall related injury.

Whether you’re at risk, you know someone at risk, or you care for people who are at risk of falling, you can make, or suggest a few changes to lower the chance of a fall. Experts recommend a physical activity regimen – with balance, strength training, and flexibility components – and consulting with a health professional about getting a fall risk assessment to make sure the home environment is safe and supportive.

Falls have many different causes and elders may have several predisposing risk factors. Examples of risk factors include poor vision, cognitive impairment, gait/balance disturbances, muscular weakness, degenerative joint disease of hips/knees, any neurological disorder, and even bladder dysfunction.

Certain gait and balance abnormalities are good predictors of recurrent falls: difficulty with rising or sitting down, instability immediately after standing, staggering on turns and walking with short discontinuous steps, and daily medications.

As we age, the findings show that more and more adults will mask or hide whatever balance problems they have from their children or other family members. As the fall statistics will confirm, this denial does not work. The fact of the matter is, that they become so clever at masking the issues, that they will even deny their risks to ourselves. Truth is, as we age, our ability to react to missteps and turns become a high risk of a falls every day.

Did you know that most times when seniors fall it results in a hospital stay, breaking a hip, shoulder or arm? Did you know that the recovery time for most seniors is longer and painful than for other people? In fact, most times these falls turn out to be catastrophic and their long recovery time presents other risks to their health such as; pain medications, laying in bed and/or sitting for longer periods, and the inability to be mobile. Recovery from their injuries affects them physically and mentally and most always requires rehabilitation.

Wouldn’t it be far easier to take your aging seriously and reduce your risk of falling? This could be as simple as using that 2 wheeled walker, sitting in a bath chair while bathing, grab bars to hold onto while showering, removing the rug from in front of the kitchen sink, or having a professional home assessment so you reduce the risk.

Understand your Risks. It can be hard to plan ahead if you don’t want to think about growing older. Denial can lead to poor planning and a higher risk of falls.

Getting back to my opening question – if you raised your hand and would like to age in your home, Affordable Medical Supply is one phone call away.