Article by Kari Watson
The elderly are at the highest risk for falls which may cause serious trauma. So how can we help seniors prevent fall-related injuries?
Poor balance and environment can often lead to falls, especially in the older population.
While the chance of falls increase as we get older due to age-related risk factors, there are many contributing factors that we can control and can reduce the risk.
One of the main age-related risk factors is balance.
There are three primary body systems involved in maintaining balance: proprioception, vestibular, and vision.
Changes in these three body systems are inevitable as we age and therefore we classify these as age related risk factors to falls.
There are many external risk factors to falling, however some of the most modifiable include: Environment, Muscular Strength, and Personal Behaviour.
Care provided by an interdisciplinary health care team can reduce falls by approximately 50% in senior fallers. (4)
As a member of this team, physiotherapists will help by analyzing what modifiable factors can be changed to minimize the risk, such as balance, strength, gait, coordination, and strength. (5)
Anyone with neurological conditions, nerve damage or muscular weakness can benefit from proactive fall prevention.
Other causes of falls to be aware of include but are not limited to; medication, chronic illness, acute infections, poor vision, hearing loss, and changes in metal alertness.
The Ministry of Health, in partnership with the B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit has a great resource on fall prevention strategies and can be found here.
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