From a flashlight to Tai Chi to homecare nurses, strategies that prevents from falling or reducing the aftermath of a fall.
Falling is a dangerous — and very expensive — problem. Its direct medical costs are in the thousand Dirhams yearly.
It’s well-known that the risk of falling and being hurt increases with age. About 20 percent of the elderly who have a major fall are likely to die within a year, according to national studies.
Falling injuries, including slips, trips, and falls among elderly are prevalent and serious — but more importantly they are preventable.
A lot of work on fall prevention is being done in the UAE,” said “Shiella”, program coordinator for injury prevention at the Enayati homecare. “It’s very important that we let the public know what’s available to help our seniors.” for this reason there will be a conference in October that covers falls preventions among other patient safety topics.
Among the activities that can reduce falls for elderly at home are:
Tai chi has been researched using randomized control trials,” Head said. “Studies have found tai chi can reduce falls by as much as 30 percent.”
Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art with low-stress training techniques beneficial for physical fitness and mental focus. In the past several decades, it has spread worldwide, and many programs, especially those geared to seniors, concentrate on exercise and health improvement rather than self-defense.
Shiella says a major problem with falls is “as we age, no one thinks a fall can happen to them.” And the surprise is what happens when they do fall: fractures, hospital bills and an increased chance that they will fall a second or third time, according to hospital reports.
Another way are Flashlights. Seniors may not want to wake a spouse during the night but need to get out of bed for one reason or another. A simple item like a handy flashlight can make a big difference.
Yet a private nurse at home can be excellent proactive activity. “Our plan was straightforward,” says Shiella, a registered nurse at your home that doesn’t just prevent elderly from risks of falling, but also assist in organized daily exercise and physiotherapy.
This group is just sitting down all day, which changes their muscle composition of the body rendering them non-responsive to balance themselves during any rapid action or reaction and they fall.
“Our geriatric management tool looks at how to address patients on a personal level,” Shiella said. “Vision, medications and the environment are all items to be considered in the assessment.”
“Nurses at home are there for care or possibly rehabilitation,” said Shiella and they make sure elderly participates in exercise that helps preserve their muscles and prevents falling.