On Thursday, September 22, Kadan Homecare, along with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and its Falls Free® Coalition, is celebrating the 9th annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day by helping support ready, steady and balanced lifestyles.
“Older adults want to stay active, independent, and safe in their homes, but many worry about their risk of falling,” said Linda Kadan, founder and CEO of Kadan Homecare.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- One-third of Americans aged 65+ falls each year.
- Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall; every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.
- Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and the most common cause of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults.
- Falls result in more than 2.8 million injuries treated in emergency departments annually, including over 800,000 hospitalizations and more than 27,000 deaths.
- In 2013, the total cost of fall injuries was $34 billion.
- The financial toll for older adult falls is expected to increase as the population ages and may reach $67.7 billion by 2020.
Falls, with or without injury, also carry a heavy quality of life impact. A growing number of older adults fear falling and, as a result, limit their activities and social engagements. This can result in further physical decline, depression, social isolation and feelings of helplessness.
Across the country, health industry professionals are hosting classes and seminars, performing thousands of falls risk screenings, and educating older adults about this year’s theme: Ready, Steady, Balance: Prevent Falls in 2016. The theme highlights three goals that all older adults have the power to achieve:
- Be ready: Education is the most important step to being ready to prevent a fall. Online and at thousands of community organizations, there are resources to help older adults understand their risk of falling. They also can enroll in evidence-based falls prevention programs to learn how to address their fear of falling and what they can do to sustain their strength.
- Be steady: Older adults can be steady if they take simple steps to prevent falls. These include talking with a doctor about medications, getting hearing and vision checkups, and assessing living spaces for hazards. NCOA offers an award-winning video that provides 6 Steps to Prevent a Fall.
- Be balanced: “Falls prevention is a team effort that takes a balance of education, preparation, and community support,” said Kathleen Cameron, Senior Director of NCOA’s National Falls Prevention Resource Center. “Falls Prevention Awareness Day is an opportunity to take a look at the world around us, be aware of falls hazards, and think about how we can make changes that will help our parents, grandparents, aging neighbors, and even ourselves safe from falls.”
For the first time this year, NCOA and its Falls Free® Coalition are encouraging supporters to wear a yellow ribbon to increase awareness of falls prevention. To find more falls prevention resources, go to ncoa.org/FallsPrevention.
Of course, at Kadan Homecare, we focus on our clients’ safety all year, including preventing falls. Our nurses can perform an in-home evaluation to identify areas that could potentially cause a fall. For a complimentary evaluation or for more information about Kadan, please contact us.
