Preventing Falls in the Elderly & Alzheimer’s Patients

AlzheimersNotes.com 

  Falls are the leading cause of death by accidental injury among people who are older than 65, according to an article, Home visits can help keep elders on their feet, in the DailyPress.com, by Fredrick Kunkle.  Here we learn some of the statistics about falls and the elderly and how home aides can educate about keeping homes safer.   

 Falling is of great concern as one ages and becomes more unsteady on the feet.  The elderly also aren’t so resilient if they do fall. 

My aunt’s family moved her to a nursing home when she became too unsteady to stay alone when the family was away during the day at school or at work.  She also would walk around at night and had fallen once.

My mom, who had Alzheimer’s, fell at the nursing home  She was simply turning around as she got out of bed.  Her feet apparently tangled or “got in the way of each other.”  With her fragile bones, at age 83, she broke her hip.  Although many falls seem to lead to death, Mother lived 8 more years after her fall. 

My grandfather, was in his 70s when he fell and broke his hip.  That occurred when I was a child and treatment was to stay in bed at home until the hip healed.  Grandpa developed pneumonia and died before he got well.

Although we can’t eliminate entirely the incidence of falling, there are measures we can take to make our homes and a patient’s room safer, as the home nurse demonstrates in the above article.

Also, you may want to refer to The Complete Guide to Alzheimer’s-Proofing Your Home at The Alzheimer’s Store. 

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen