We all want to protect our family members as they age and help them stay safe, secure, and independent. Knowing how to protect older adults from falls, a leading cause of injury, is a step toward this goal.
The Reality
Each year, one in every three adults age 65 or older will fall and two million will be treated in an emergency department for injuries caused by falls. Fall injuries, such as hip fracture and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), can be a serious threat to seniors' health and independence.
Thankfully, falls are not an inevitable part of aging. In fact, many falls can be prevented. We can all play a key role in protecting the older adults we care about.
Prevention Tips
You can play a role in preventing falls. Encourage the older adults you care about to:
Get some exercise: Lack of exercise can lead to weak legs, and this increases the chance of falling. Exercise programs like Tai Chi can increase strength and improve balance, making falls less likely for aging adults.
Be mindful of medications: Some medicines—or combinations of medicines— can have side effects like dizziness or drowsiness. This can make falls more likely. Having a doctor or pharmacist review all medications can help reduce the chance of risky side effects and drug interactions.
Keep their vision sharp: Poor vision can make it harder to get around safely. To help make sure they're seeing clearly, older adults should have their eyes checked every year and wear glasses or contact lenses with the right prescription strength.
Eliminate hazards at home. About half of all falls happen at home. A home safety check can help identify fall hazards that need to be removed or changed, like clutter and poor lighting.
Steps for Home Safety
The following checklist can help older adults stay safer from falls in their homes:
Remove things you can trip over (like papers, books, clothes, and shoes) from stairs and places where you walk.
Remove small throw rugs or use double-sided tape to keep the rugs from slipping.
Keep items you use often in cabinets you can reach easily without using a step stool.
Have grab bars put in next to your toilet and inside and next to the tub or shower.
Use non-slip mats in the bathtub and on shower floors.
Improve the lighting in your home. As you get older, you need brighter lights to see well. Hang light-weight curtains or shades to reduce glare.
Have handrails and lights put in on all staircases.
Wear shoes both inside and outside the house. Avoid going barefoot or wearing slippers.
SOURCE: Center for Disease Control
For more help with stretching, watch this video:
(Video provided by Betty Perkins-Carpenter, Ph.D.)
One man’s neck is stiff. He can’t turn his head freely when he enters an expressway land or backs out of a driveway.
A woman has trouble bending and stretching. She can’t reach high or low shelves at the supermarket.
Other older folks have poor posture, walk stiffly and have aching muscles. Some can’t cut their toenails or pick up something they may have dropped.
We who work with seniors all have seen what can happen to flexibility as people age. However, while it’s true that flexibility generally decreases as part of the normal physiologic process of aging, the results of recent studies suggest that physical activity can delay and possibly reverse degeneration in men and women 65 years of age and older. I suggest that seniors should be taught to emulate cats and dogs. The s-t-r-e-t-c-h and people should, too.
Stretching is a wonderful form of exercise, that is a key to flexibility and mobility because it creates warmth in our muscles and ligaments. As we all know, warm muscles work better.
Moreover, stretching exercises not only can increase and maintain range of motion in joints; they also can relieve muscle soreness. Stretching can improve capacity for activity because stretched muscles need less energy for movements. Additionally, stretching can elongate the fascia that provides the binding together of support systems to stabilize muscles, organs and body tissue, and helping to prevent joint and muscle strain and tears or re-injury. Stretches provide an important element to recovery during rehabilitation, and lessen pain from arthritis.
Jean Anderson of Naples, N.Y. would agree. After doing Jiggle, Wiggle and Wise, Rock ‘N’ Roll, Windshield Wipers and other stretches in my guide, she raked leaves without the usual morning-after effects that formerly sent her to her chiropractor.
“Not a twinge,” she says. Stretching in bed helps you start your day feeling physically awake and mentally alert. Also, there is no fear of falling when you are exercising in bed.
When you’re through, pick up your pillow and dance around the room with it as you listen to favorite tunes. Keep one arm around the pillow and the other arm up, and then switch them. Removing one arm takes away a stabilizer. Later, take away two stabilizers by holding the pillow with both arms.
As described in my book, “How To Prevent Falls,” pillow dancing can improve balance and coordination because it is very different from dancing with a partner who gives bodily support. Combined with stretching, it can help you feel better inside and outside and that provides an extra plus: When you feel better you look better.
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About the author: A lifelong fitness advocate, Betty Perkins-Carpenter of Penfield, N.Y., is an Olympic diving coach, lecturer, teacher, award-winning author, and 2009 recipient of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Lifetime Achievement Award.
