Prevention of Falling In Older Adults

Life is a cycle and at a very young age one needs care from those that are older than you; then at some age, you become independent and can care for yourself but when you grow older up to a point, you are back to needing care but this time from those younger than you which could be in form of family, extended relatives or friends as the case may be. Looks a bit ironic doesn’t it? Well, that’s the truth that stares us right in the face which is why it is necessary to understand that older adults are susceptible to falling and should be shown adequate care rather than be discarded and left on their own. One thing is a lot of us will reach that stage and part of showing our love and care is to help prevent them from falling because falling actually holds the potential of cutting their lives (older adults) short.

Research and studies have really shown a lot of things when it comes to falling in older adults. Findings from the research showed that each year, millions of older people—about the ages of 65 and more—fall. In fact, more than one out of four older people fall each year, but less than half tell their doctor. Falling once doubles your chances of falling again and falls have been shown to be costly and fatal. Well, check out the statistics below:

• One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury.
• Each year, 2.8 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries.
• Over 800,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often in form of a head injury or hip fracture.
• Each year at least 300,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures.
• More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling, usually by falling sideways.
• Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries
• Adjusted for inflation, the direct medical costs for fall injuries are $31 billion annually.

Now you can see the severity of danger that falling poses to older adults which is why proper care needs to be given to them while also taking some preventive measures that will allow them to be safe from falling which will be examined as we move further.