By: Jennifer Beach, LSW, MA, C-SWCM
Bill is 74 and retired but you wouldn’t know it; he’s in great shape.
He is up early and stays busy every day, working on a variety of projects and hobbies. Unfortunately, he took a fall on his way out the door to walk his dogs.
One-fourth of Americans over 65 fall each year and over half of those falls take place in the home, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Many people believe falling and aging go hand-in-hand, but that’s not true. Falls are caused by many avoidable things. Here’s how to stay on your feet:
- Clear pathways and remove area rugs
- Ensure good lighting in dark areas, especially near bathrooms
- Keep stairs free of clutter, and make sure you have a solid handrail
- Use non-slip paint on outdoor steps
- Install grab bars in bathroom
- Be aware of medication side effects and talk to your doctor about risks and benefits, including the potential of falling
- Exercise. Strengthening muscles and building endurance can and will make a difference, regardless of your age. It is never too late to start.
- Do not let pride keep you or a loved one from using a cane, walker or assistive device, if needed.
There are additional factors to consider that relate to general health. They include:
Routine vision & hearing check-ups
- Vision and hearing capacities change with aging and contribute greatly, not only to quality of life, but also to fall risks.
- Age-related hearing loss may be linked to a set of receptors (in the inner ear) that come into play when you move your head and can affect your balance. Sound helps with balance.
- Balance comes from several senses: vision is the coordination between your head and eyes. In addition, your muscle and joint coordination can affect what you hear.
Nutrition
- Older adults with nutritional deficiencies have a higher rate of bone fractures and are more likely to experience prolonged hospitalization and poor wound healing. Factors that affect nutrition as you age are changes in your gastrointestinal tract, tooth and mouth issues, other physical limitations (such as arthritis), living alone, isolation, changes in driving, changes in taste due to medications, chronic diseases and finances.
- Older adults also require more protein than younger adults. Additionally, those with healing wounds need even more protein. Everyone over the age of 65 should talk with their doctor about nutrition. A nutritional assessment can be completed along with monitoring specific lab values. Being proactive prior to an issue will help to expedite the healing process.
Proper hydration
- Dehydration may be a result of many things: an acute illness, medications (especially diuretics used for heart failure or hypertension), memory issues, mobility changes, swallowing difficulties, or the all-too-common intentional limiting of fluids to avoid incontinence.
- Dehydration is not always easy to detect in an older adult; symptoms can be confused with other health problems. Dehydration can cause weakness, dizziness, low systolic blood pressure and constipation. It can greatly increase a fall risk and subsequently can slow the healing process. Talking to a health care provider is important to help monitor dehydration and stay hydrated to prevent and/or recover from falls.
It is important to keep moving your body and making changes around the house to help prevent falls. Remember that proper nutrition and hydration is vital, not only to prevent falls, but also to help you heal if you do fall.
Original Article: https://www.northeastohioboomer.com/blogs/caregiver-corner/caregiver-corner-avoiding-falls/