GETTING RID OF THE RUG WON’T SAVE GRANDPA

For decades, we have been taught that when family members become unstable around the house...we should begin senior-proofing (as opposed to child-proofing) their environment.  Often, the whole project involves installation of grab-bars or handrails, pitching the throw rugs and floor mats, trying to get Dad to replace that 25 watt bedside lamp bulb with 40 watts of improved visibility; and cajoling them into recycling old accumulated stacks of magazines, newspapers and other "valuable papers".

The worry, frustration, depressing and often patronizing nature of this exercise is based on the premise that senior-proofing will keep Mom or Dad from falling and breaking a hip…or worse.  

The premise was based on common sense rules that are not directly applicable to falls voidance.  Truthfully, any household should be “senior-proofed”…since statistics tell us that people of all age groups fall in their homes…and we all can benefit from clutter reduction, throw rug patrol, grab-bars and handrails.

Medical research studies took people at risk for falling and put them in a cluttered environment and a non-cluttered environment. The result?  People in both environments still fell.  The studies then took high risk fallers and provided interventions to remediate or mitigate their individual fall risks.  These folks were placed into the cluttered and uncluttered environments.  Results?  These folks either did not fall, or fell fewer times than those who had received no intervention.  Theses amazing results clearly show us that working with the individual’s fall risks provides a benefit that transcends their environment.

What’s it mean?  If you want to help Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa...do the work around their home, but don’t forget to help them understand that they can actually retrain themselves to become more stable…and safer…around the house.  Fall Risk Assessments, as described in American Geriatric Society research and Medicare’s Annual Wellness Exam are a key component of any older adult healthcare initiative.

References:

 Osteoporosis Int (1996) 6:249-255 © 1996 European Foundation for Osteoporosis; British Geriatrics Society-Age and Ageing 2006; 35-S2: ii55–ii59; Journal of Nursing Research Vol. 13, No. 1, 2005

Keep moving,

Mike

http://www.FallPreventionClinics.com