Preventing Falls and Unintentional Injury Prevention

Ardent Solutions is working to create a community where older adults can live safe, healthy and independent lives. While falls are a threat to the health of older adults and can significantly limit their ability to remain self-sufficient, the opportunity to reduce falls has never been better. The Allegany County Fall Prevention Collaborative is investing in proven interventions that can reduce falls and help older adults live better and longer.

Know the Facts about Falls

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

• One out of three older adults (those aged 65 or older) fall each year, but less than half talk to their healthcare providers about it.
• Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries.
• In 2013, 2.5 million nonfatal falls among older adults were treated in emergency departments and more than 734,000 of these patients were hospitalized.
• In 2013, the direct medical costs of falls, adjusted for inflation, were $34 billion.

How Can You Prevent Falls?

Older adults can stay independent and reduce their chances of falling. They can:

• Exercise regularly. It is important that the exercises focus on increasing leg strength and improving balance, and that they get more challenging over time. 
• Ask their doctor or pharmacist to review their medicines—both prescription and over-the counter—to identify medicines that may cause side effects or interactions such as dizziness or drowsiness.
• Have their eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year and update their eyeglasses to maximize their vision.  Consider getting a pair with single vision distance lenses for some activities such as walking outside.
• Make their homes safer by reducing tripping hazards, adding grab bars inside and outside the tub or shower and next to the toilet, adding railings on both sides of stairways, and improving the lighting in their homes.

To lower their hip fracture risk, older adults can:

• Get adequate calcium and vitamin D—from food and/or from supplements.
• Do weight bearing exercise.
• Get screened and, if needed, treated for osteoporosis.

Who's at Risk?

Fall-related Deaths

• The death rates from falls among older men and women have risen sharply over the past decade.
• In 2013, about 25,500 older adults died from unintentional fall injuries.
• Men are more likely than women to die from a fall. After taking age into account, the fall death rate is approximately 40% higher for men than for women.

Fall Injuries

• People age 75 and older who fall are four to five times more likely than those age 65 to 74 to be admitted to a long-term care facility for a year or longer.
• Rates of fall-related fractures among older women are more than twice those for men.
• Over 95% of hip fractures are caused by falls. Each year, there are over 258,000 hip fractures and the rate for women is almost twice the rate for men.

Am I at Risk?

Ask yourself:
1. Have I fallen in the last year?
2. Do I feel unsteady when standing or walking?
3. Do I worry about Falling?

If you answered "Yes" to any one of these questions, talk to your healthcare provider about a fall assessment. You may be considered at increased risk of falling.

---

Many Falls Can Be Prevented. Learn how to decrease your risk for falls by calling Erin Gorham at 585-593-5223, ext. 1015 or by emailing at gorhame@ardentnetwork.org.