Effective measures to prevent falls in seniors

Credit: Pikwizard.com

​​Seniors’ falls are a major problem in Canada. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 81% of injury hospitalizations among seniors are due to the fall. A third of falls occurred result in broken or fractured bones (Public Health Canada). Among consequences of falling we could also see other injuries, including 

chronic pain, reduced quality of life and even increased risk of death. 

You cannot prevent all the falls, but you can try to reduce the risk of its occurrence. Here are some tips that you can use: 

 

Lead a  healthy lifestyle

 

  • Exercise: Sport can help you to stay healthy, by improving your muscle strength, balance, coordination and flexibility. You can start with mild activities such as walking, swimming or dance to reduce the risk of injury. 

 

  • Sleep well: It is recommended to sleep 8 hours a day. You need energy to stay concentrated during the day. The lack of sleep can decrease your reflexes and slow down your response time. 

 

  • Eat healthy: Balance your nutrition and make sure you have enough calcium, vitamin D, and protein. Calcium and vitamin D are important for your bones, while protein is good for your muscles and blood pressure. 

 

  • Stay hydrated: Dehydration can result in low blood pressure, confusion, dizziness and disorientation.  

 

  • Take vitamins: To reduce the consequences of the fall, you need to keep your bones strong. Taking vitamins D and C could help you to avoid osteoporosis and break bones.



Make your home a safer place

 

  • Be extra cautious in the bathroom: Bathroom falls account for 80% of all senior falls (The Patterson foundation). Use non-slip bath mats for tubs as the wet surface could be quite slippery. Install grab bars inside and outside of the shower to provide you support and ensure safety. Consider adding a walk- in bathtub.

 

  • Keep your space free of debris and other obstacles: Clutter makes you more prone to stumbling. 

 

  • Clean spills, grease and fallen food right away: Any hazards making floor slippery can result in a fall which can be prevented. 

 

  • Install handrails (if you have stairs at home): Handrails can provide you extra support that you can rely on while taking the stairs. 

 

  • Equip your home with motion sensor night light: the darkness reduces the visibility, and night motion lights can help you to move safely around the house. 

 

  • Make sure all your rooms are well lit: It will help you to identify slipping and tripping hazards. 

 

  • Secure and hide all the cords: the cords can cause stumbling and falls. 



Be proactive

 

  • Take it slow: Don’t rush when walking, getting up or taking stairs. 

 

  • Wear comfortable clothes and shoes: High heels, loose-fitting shoes and slip-on backless shoes are proven to cause falls. Give preference to sturdy non-skid, rubber-soled low heel shoes of your size. 

 

  • Remember where you felt last time and be more cautious in these areas. 

 

Consult your healthcare provider

 

  • Take control of your medications: Make sure you know about the side effects of the medications you are taking. Some of them can cause weakness and drowsiness. Ask your healthcare provider to consider providing you with medication with less side effects. 

 

  • Regularly test your vision and hearing: Visit your healthcare providers regularly  for eye and ear tests.. Make sure your hearing aids are functioning and your eyeglasses are within reach. 

 

  • Book an appointment with an occupational therapist: Occupational therapist can provide you with more tips in order to help you reduce and prevent falls. 



Our solution 

 

SenSights Care is a remote patient monitoring and aging solution. It has fall detection sensors that could be easily installed on walls or ceiling. The touchless sensors are detecting  falls without wearables or cameras. Every time a fall occurs it sends an alert to your relatives and appointed healthcare providers in your region.

 

Sensights Care  can provide peace of mind to you and your family, and can be monitored by healthcare providers. A fall detected by healthcare providers gives them the opportunity to react and provide timely care to a loved one.  Our touchless fall detection device works in different lighting conditions such as darkness and dense steam you may find in a bathroom. Including falls,  it can also track your walking activities  and send a detailed report to your care circle including a healthcare provider for further analysis. Having a healthcare provider included in a family care circle  makes the care provision proactive and more efficient. 

 

What is SenSights.AI Platform? 

 

We are a North American-based startup that provides comprehensive capabilities for home care organizations to manage their senior care services using state-of-art AI and 5G technologies and value for their organizations as well as their clients. Sensights.AI is uniquely positioned as we are the only one with a combination of

  • Ambient or touchless fall detection
  • Device-less or contactless vitals monitoring
  • Comprehensive Mobile, Tablet and Web Solution for Seniors, Caregivers and Health Agencies
  • Complete Out of box Telehealth and TeleMedicine Platform with integration with over 15+ smart devices and several leading EMRs/EHRs like PointClick Care, Cerner and many more in pipeline
  • Over 40+ Data Scientists, Engineers and Medical Advisors to help integrate and improve digital transformation journey of our client with services, products and platform focused on senior market

 

We provide the best in class health platform for patient engagement, remote monitoring and virtual care. Patients are guided on smartphones, tablets and computers with the help of medication/ appointment reminders, education and health and activity tracking. Providers can receive alerts, monitor patients and access analytics to deliver better care.  SenSights Care adds value to home health care operations,  improves patient and family satisfaction and  reduces hospital readmissions, and costs.

 

We would like to work with you to help you grow your business with our unique business model of sharing revenue with healthcare providers.

 

Book a consultation today to see how can help digitally transform your healthcare organization at https://sensights.ai/contact-us/ 

Learn more about our SenSights Care Solution on http://sensightscare.com/ 

Follow us on LinkedIn at @SenSights for more updates.