I HATE FALLING:   Helpful acronym to keep in mind with regards to a number of factors involved in risk for a fall.

I Inflammation of joints (or joint deformity)

H Hypotension (orthostatic blood pressure changes)

A Auditory and visual abnormalities

T Tremor (Parkinson’s Disease or other causes of tremor)

E Equilibrium (balance) problem

F Foot problems

A Arrhythmia, heart block, or valvular disease

L Leg-length discrepancy

L Lack of conditioning (generalized weakness)

I Illness

N Nutrition (poor; weight loss)

G Gait disturbance

What is a fall?

The World Health Organization defines it as a person coming to rest inadvertently on the ground or other lower level

Are you at risk for a fall?

Increase your stability, strength and awareness of what factors can lead to a fall and how to eliminate or decrease those risk factors.

Falls Epidemiology:

As per the Centers for Disease Control 33% of people 65 or older fall and 50% of people 85 or older fall at some point.

Women have 3x the amount of fractures due to fall in comparison to men.

Location:

• 60% of falls occur within the home
• 50% of falls within the home involve steps 

Intrinsic factors relating to falls:

• Medical/surgical history
• Aging (reaction time, muscle mass decrease)
• Vision/hearing
• Blood pressure changes
• Prior falls
• Fear
• Posture
• Walking speed
• Balance deficits

Extrinsic factors relating to falls, naming a few:

• Footwear
• Adaptive equipment (proper usage)
• Environmental barriers and or design within home/surrounding area
• Medications 

Main components of a fall risk assessment:

Chang et al, performed a systematic review in the British Medical Journal focusing on interventions for falls in older adults looked at these key elements:

• Blood pressure changes
• Vision
• Balance and gait/ambulation
• Medication review
• Activities of daily living or activities that elect or want to participate in (instrumental)
• Cognition
• Environmental hazards (examples: doorway width, doorway saddles, floor, ceiling, lighting, stairways, hallway, furniture, clutter)
• Range of motion around specific joints, strength, activity level ( overall health)

Outreach will assess these components along with any other evidenced based measures needed depending on  how one presents (individually-based.) 

CALL or EMAIL for evaluation/consultation:

Outreach can evaluate your home environment and risk for fall in one visit/consultation with measures designed by Rehabilitation professionals that are evidence-based. We will suggest and recommend strategies to decrease this fall risk resulting in increased physical stability and independence. Please call 212-842-0080 or email us at info@outreach-rehab.com to inquire and or set up assessment.