How can you prevent falls in the home in older people?

Question

How can you prevent falls in the home in older people?

Answer

The most important step in treating falls is to diagnose the cause. The major causes of falls in older people are cardiovascular abnormalities, which are largely responsive to treatment. Neurological causes are not so amenable to treatment in general, but some are highly specific and have good outcomes with the right therapy. Frequently, falls occur as a result of some medication the person is taking. Finally, orthopaedic causes are frequently rectifiable. Therefore a search for the cause is almost always worthwhile. The person who falls a lot should therefore always see their doctor.

If no cause can be found (and this is rare), one might look at the environment to see whether the person is tripping over loose rugs, for example, or electric cords.

It is more important to prevent a fall than help the person to get up afterwards. Each person may need different preventive measures. For example, if a person falls because the chair moves when he/she sits down, then to push it up against a wall may be all that is necessary. The removal of loose carpets, flexes trailing across the floor and the provision of hand rails may also help. General strategies such as maintaining physical fitness by regular exercise sessions may reduce falling. It may be possible to improve gait with physiotherapy or to provide an aid to lessen the risk of falling.

Once falling has occurred, it is important the person can get assistance and a call alarm worn around the neck may be helpful. Other than that, the person can be taught how to rise from a lying position, but again this requires specialist physiotherapy instruction. Overall, however, the most important thing is to define the cause of falls and to treat them, rather than to treat the consequence of falling in their own home when they live alone.

Links

• Research paper on falls prevention