The Washington Post had a very good article yesterday on the elderly, and one of their biggest dangers: falling.
The posting I did a few days ago kind of ties into this topic – Tom Faranda’s Folly: Good articles on preserving a fundamental sense: balance
Here’s the Washington Post feature:
Guarding Health, And Independence – washingtonpost.com
More than a third of people 65 and over fall every year. For those 85 and over, the odds are four to five times worse. Falls are the leading cause of accidental death in the elderly, surpassing vehicle crashes.
All it takes is a single fall for an older person to lose his or her home. And with the first baby boomers hitting 65 in three years — and expected to live another 18 — Fairfax County officials are taking urgent steps now: They’re helping residents age-proof their homes so they can stay put.
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Research, including Wyman’s 2002-05 study of women ages 70 to 101 in Minnesota‘s Twin Cities, has found that relatively simple and inexpensive measures could prevent many falls, including moderate exercise, education and one-on-one home visits such as those Fairfax has started. Wyman’s study found that such measures reduced the number of falls by 35 percent.
But experts say one of the biggest obstacles is complacency. Falling has long been the stuff of slapstick comedy, a fact of life so ordinary that it does not seem serious. Older Americans sometimes shy away from using a cane or walker, and they can be reluctant to admit falling for fear their adult children might reduce their independence.
"There is a big taboo about falling, and that’s why we’d like it to be talked about more," said Dorothy Baker, a research scientist in geriatrics at Yale University School of Medicine.
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