“Anyone can fall – Prevent it from happening to you”

“Anyone can fall – prevent it from happening to you,” is the theme for this month’s fall prevention drive. And it’s true that nobody sets out on any given day to fall, but it can happen at any time with devastating consequences.

And as we grow older the risk increases, warns Jennifer Fernandes, education coordinator for the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research (ACICR).

“It’s everybody (who is vulnerable), anyone can fall,” she said. “But seniors have a history of fracture (when they fall). Forty per cent of nursing home admissions are due to a fall. It’s about prevention. There are some risk factors you can look at to reduce the chances of falling.”

In fact, one in every three people over age 65 fall at least once a year. Falling can cause injury, loss of mobility and independence, and is the sixth leading cause of death in seniors. Seniors’ falls and injuries cost Ca-nadians $3 billion per year.

By PATRICIA HARCOURT
EDITOR

For more see the Dec. 11/12 issue of the Tofield Mercury