This week, Alameda County celebrated Fall Prevention Awareness Week, which culminates today, National Fall Prevention Day. According to the CDC, one in three older adults (over age 65) falls each year, and falls are the leading cause of injury death in that age group. Falls are also responsible for impaired mobility and decreased independence, major issues among the senior population.
What can you do to help prevent falls — for yourself, and for people you know? Well, it turns out there are three easy steps:
1. Exercise! Most of us think of exercise as a way to lose weight, but as we age, exercise is an important tool for maintaining general health and especially strength and balance.
2. Medication management. Dizziness, drowsiness, and other sideaffects of medications — or medication interactions — are common contributors to falls. Talk to a health professional to review your pharmaceutical regimen.
3. Home safety modifications, like Rebuilding Together’s Safe-at-Home Program. Simple changes, like removing trip hazards and installing grab bars in the bathroom, go a long way to reducing falls and fall-related injuries. Home safety modifications are inexpensive and often relatively easy — much cheaper and easier to deal with than a life-changing fall!
Although we might assume that falls are a fact of life as we age, the truth is there are simple steps we can ALL take to prevent them. On this National Fall Prevention Day, RTO encourages you to click on the links, learn the facts, and help spread the word to promote health and independence among older adults.
