Risk Factors That Increase An Older Adult’s Chances Of Falling And Prevention Measures

  • February 07, 2020 BY  Anthem Seniors
  • Anthem Senior Living
  • LEAVE A COMMENT

Falling, especially with older adults is scary though, but is a reality. The sad part is that the risk of falling increases with age. Falls are always a concern for caregivers of aging adults. It is estimated that one out of every three adults aged 65 and over falls every year, but it is only a small number of people that discuss the fall with their health care teams. Senior living communities across the country are taking measures to help prevent falls. Falls increases the risk of serious injury, and fall prevention mainly involves managing an individual’s underlying fall risk factors and adopting injury prevention measures in the case of recurrence.

Fall prevention sometimes poses challenge, and rightfully so since fall prevention needs to be balanced with other priorities for the patient, fall prevention is interdisciplinary since cooperation on the part of lot of people is required (nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, patients and families), last, but not the least fall prevention needs to be customized- care must address the unique needs of each patient since each patient comes with a different set of fall risk factors.

Shifting your loved one to the care of staff at assisted living facilities, such as the award-winning Anthem Senior Living in Phoenix- ensures the well-being of your loved one. Caregivers would always be at round-the-clock attention & assistance for your loved one. Expect for your loved one to receive the best possible form of senior care living in Anthem and support.

Risk factors that increases a senior’s chances of falling include:

Medication- Starting a new medication can increase your senior loved one’s risk of falling, mostly causing change in bathroom patterns. Your loved one may frequently wake up in the middle of the night thus increasing the risk of falling in the dark. The best thing to do is to change the administration time of the medication.

Blood Sugar– Blood sugar level is a major factor of consideration, especially if your senior loved one has diabetes or hypoglycemia.

Footwear– Ensuring that your senior loved one is wearing proper footwear can play a huge role in preventing falls. Ensure proper fitting. Too large or too small shoe size may cause discomfort that might lead to a trip or imbalance causing a fall.

Simple changes including proper lighting in the bedroom, washroom and other areas, can go a long way in ensuring well-being of your beloved.

Fall Prevention Measures:

  1. Observe your loved one’s living space including bedroom or bathroom to figure out areas of potential risk, accordingly work towards making the environment safer. Light up their living space.
  2. Remove home hazards, which your living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and stairways might be filled with, such as clean spilled liquids or food, use nonslip mats in your shower or bathtub, move coffee tables and racks from high-traffic areas, store clothing and other necessities within reach, etc.
  3. Healthcare providers might recommend using assistive devices, such as a cane or a walker to keep your loved one steady. Examples of other assistive devices include a raised toilet seat, grab bars for the shower or tub, hand rails for both sides of stairways and more.

Your doctor might also recommend you to an occupational therapist who can help devise other fall-prevention strategies.

Archives