Ten Things to Do To Prevent Falls in Elderly Patients

By Christine Kennard, Health Guide Wednesday, August 11, 2010

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Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Falls are very common in people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia associated with cognitive impairment (the ability to think, concentrate, formulate ideas, reason and remember). Falls are also common in people over ...

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Carol Bradley Bursack, Health Guide

8/12/10 9:12am

Super article, Christine. My mother was a falling champion. This is a very big issue, as like my mom, many others go to a nursing home earlier than would have been needed, because of chronic falls.

Carol

Christine Kennard, Health Guide

8/13/10 9:40am

Good point. Falls do result in many people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia being placed in nursing homes and in other forms of residential care.

Fractures that result from falls account for many deaths. Falls can also leave people with severe, permanent mobility problems.

Thanks Carol

Christine

8/12/10 9:40am

Christine, I like this post! It pinpoints many aspects over this issue.

My father-in-law now walks slowly with a cane and he is not balancing quite well. Back home before he came to this assisted living home, his old house gave him lots of hard time to climb up from the front door or go down from the backyard. He fell after the front door once without injury (my husband was with him.) The last time he fell was on the sidewalk and hurt his knees - the scars are dry but still on there now because he scratches.

Now I think it is the right thing to do to move him to this new home. I realized that he felt much safer and easier to walk. The new home is only one floor and is flat everywhere (just a little slope in the hair parlor in the house.) He loves the new place. Probably the old house was a burden to him in terms of walking and old memory. I think environment is important. We could not fix the old house while he was there and it was just inconvenient for him even if we fix it - too many stairs.

Regards,
Nina

Christine Kennard, Health Guide

8/13/10 9:58am

Stairs! They are such a problem for the elderly and people with mobility problems. I suppose we should all live in places on one floor then we would not have to move! It is a shame when stairs are the main cause of people having to find new accommodation. However, it sounds like the move for your father in law has worked well for him.

All my best wishes

Christine

AFA Social Services, Health Guide

8/13/10 8:51am

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has a new Preventing Falls DVD and is giving away a limited number of copies FREE to family caregivers. You can call us at 866-232-8484 or email info@alzfdn.org and mention this free offer in order to obtain your copy.

AFA Social Services, Health Guide

8/13/10 8:53am

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has a new "Preventing Falls" DVD and is giving away a limited number of copies FREE to family caregivers. You can call us at 866-232-8484 or email info@alzfdn.org and mention this free offer in order to obtain your copy.

John@MedFirst Alert

8/17/10 9:05pm

Christine,

Nice article and good tips on fall prevention. I also work with seniors on a daily basis and provide a free home safety checklist on my website at MedFirstAlert.com For those interested it's a great checklist to keep around the home if you are a senior or a caregiver for a senior. Falls are the number one reason our seniors over the age of 65 go to the hospitals these days. We also have a free Senior LifeSaver Kit we provide to seniors.

Regards,

John

Ten Things to Do To Prevent Falls in Elderly Patients

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