Every year, millions of older adults fall at home and falls are the leading cause of injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths. In this article I will show you how you can prevent falls using a simple senior fall prevention checklist. Take a minute to download this free checklist now and keep from becoming a statistic.
The statistics are staggering…
Every second of every day, an older adult (age 65+) suffers a fall in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), making it the leading cause of injury and injury death in this age group.
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. And, the death rates from falls of older men and women has sharply risen over the past decade.
It starts with prevention
Falls are almost always preventable. Don’t be a statistic! Here are my recommendations for making sure your home is safe with the goal of preventing falls.
Start with a home safety inspection
The first thing you want to do is conduct a home safety inspection by using a simple home safety checklist.
This checklist is a tool that you can use to walk through each room of the home, including the exterior, to evaluate whether there are potential safety hazards. Any items that are checked “no” are potential hazards. This does not mean that the person is unsafe or that they have to move out of their home. It just means that they require attention.
Conduct a fall prevention assessment
Next, conduct a fall prevention assessment using a senior fall prevention checklist. There is also a link at the bottom of this article where you can download one for free.
If you haven’t checked your home lately for safety hazards that increase your risk for falls, now is a good time to do so.
A thorough home evaluation is a great way to prevent senior falls and serious injury. Any items checked “no” are potential hazards that require attention.
Oops, but what if something happens…
So, what do you do if something does happen, even after all you did to try to prevent it? Unfortunately, that’s likely to happen.
The thing that gave me and my family peace-of-mind when my mom was still living alone was a medical alert system. Even though we did everything we could to prevent her from falling, she eventually did.
A medical alert system will give you and your family peace-of-mind knowing that your loved one will get immediate attention should something happen.
I wrote a review of the MobileHelp Medical Alert System that my mom had if you want to check that out.
In Conclusion
Like the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Take time now to conduct a home safety inspection and fall prevention review. It’s never too soon to do that.
I also highly recommend having some sort of medical alert monitoring system in the home just in case something does happen. It will give you and your loved one peace-of-mind that they will be able to get immediate help should then need it.
If you have any questions, please put them in the comment section below and I’ll respond quickly. Thanks.
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