What Can Families Do if Seniors Keep Almost Falling?
Home care assistance can help seniors and their families with daily support and techniques for reducing fall risks.
Falls are distressingly common for aging adults. Millions of seniors experience a fall every year, and way too few of them let their doctors or family members know that they had a fall. According to the CDC, around a million seniors every year end up hospitalized because of a fall.
Avoiding a fall is incredibly important in light of those statistics. Home care assistance can help seniors put a fall prevention plan in place that helps reduce the likelihood of either falling or experiencing a near miss with a fall.
Is There More Going On?
If seniors are almost falling, there might be more going on. Typically, these near misses occur because something has changed. Understanding the risk factors of a fall and taking the time to assess risk factors and the environment can help significantly.
Home care assistance providers can help family caregivers understand more about what might be contributing to the situation.
Causes of Repeat Near Misses and Falls
There are some common risk factors and potential causes that can lead to a senior falling or almost taking a tumble. Trouble with mobility, aches and pains, and hazards in the home are some of the more obvious causes. Improper footwear, increased side effects from medications, and an increase in vision problems are a little less easy to notice.
Identify Risk Factors
Experiencing a near miss means that there are risk factors that need to be addressed. Falls are rarely caused by one single risk factor, but instead a combination of issues.
This is part of why home care assistance can be so helpful with fall prevention. Providers get to know the seniors they care for and can make suggestions that better meet their needs.
Talk to a Doctor
Talking to their doctors can help seniors understand more about the risk factors they’re experiencing. Medication reviews that are overdue or determining underlying issues like worsening health issues, vitamin deficiencies, and muscle weakness can give seniors a plan to follow going forward.
If health issues aren’t a big factor in fall prevention, there might be other concerns.
Make Household Adjustments
Correcting household hazards can do so much to increase senior safety at home. Home care assistance offers support with mobility, can help clear safe pathways, and can be there for emotional support.
Growing older isn’t always easy, and seniors can have a tough time noticing that they’re experiencing changes in their abilities.
Bring in Home Care Assistance
If seniors haven’t already gotten help from home care assistance providers, now might be the time to consider the idea. Home care assistance professionals can do initial assessments with seniors and families to determine what actions might help the most to prevent falls. They can also help seniors to feel more comfortable receiving assistance that helps them to be safer in their homes.
Experiencing a series of near misses with falling can take a lot of someone’s self-confidence. Working with home care assistance to make their environment as safe as possible can help seniors to regain some of that confidence and stay safer as they age in place.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Home Care Assistance in Arlington, VA, please contact the caring staff at Butters Home Health Care today. (703) 371-2113