Falls and Safe Living

It is estimated that one in four adults over 65 will fall in a year. Older adults who experience a fall have a higher risk of sustaining a serious injury and may not regain their previous level of function. Falls are currently the leading cause of injury-related hospital admissions for older adults.

“Preventing falls is one of the most important things in supporting aging in place,” says Einat Danieli, clinical manager of Ambulatory Services at Baycrest Hospital. Her team currently runs the Community Falls Prevention Program on the Baycrest campus and at several Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation (TSHC) properties. “We want to spread the program so that we have multiple locations and people can find locations close to their home to participate, stay active and avoid falls,” Danieli explains.

Expert-Designed Fall Prevention

The course teaches participants to build the skills and body awareness needed to prevent falls. Each session includes strength-building workouts to upbeat music, core exercises that show how the human body stays balanced and education on what causes falls.  For an hour and a half each week over 10 weeks, participants meet for a class that often takes place in the building they live in. 

Nicole Campbell, a registered kinesiologist, is the clinician who runs the Falls Prevention Program. Each week, she demonstrates how different muscles are engaged as participants do strength repetitions, which are specifically focused on replicating motions they may encounter in their daily lives. This includes sideto-side steps that show how weight shifts from one leg to the other - the same steps used to navigate a theatre or a galley kitchen.

Exercise Is the Best Way to Prevent Falls

Despite having the program at home, Campbell still meets participants later than she would like. “They’ve had a fall, or they know someone who had a fall that’s pretty catastrophic. The best time to join is before you’ve had a fall.”

The fear of leaving home can lead older adults not to get help after their first fall. However, two-thirds of older adults will fall a second time within a year. “They perceive the way to treat that is to be more careful, but they aren’t careful in the right ways,” explains Campbell.

How Participants Gained Fun and Fitness

“Something like this should be taken in your 50s,” Teresa MacDougall, a recent graduate of the program, says. “It just brings about a whole new awareness of your body.”

MacDougall says the course changed the way she navigates the world. She now puts on firm shoes in the morning instead of slippers and turns on the light when navigating what she thinks is familiar territory.

“Nicole makes it so easy,” MacDougall explains, noting that Campbell builds a great environment and brings a lot of energy to the room.

Returning to a classroom not only allows older adults to learn fall prevention strategies, it also creates a community. “It really helps to hear others’ struggles,” MacDougall says.

Campbell has seen a positive response from tenants in the program. When peers can hold their own during a challenging demonstration of balance, the whole class cheers. “The program allows everyone to come together and learn they are not alone in this,” she says.

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Source:

https://www.baycrest.org/Baycrest_Centre/media/images/BAY_BULLETIN_Sept-Oct-2023_V2.pdf