Gary Barg, Editor-in-Chief
Welcome to the halfway point in our annual Fall Prevention February (well, except for leap year, but that’s another story.) There is never a better time to talk about fall prevention and detection than the present. Yesterday, we launched our interview with Johnny Ross, the innovator who created MyNotifi, which helps you detect if your loved one has fallen and, among many other neat things, contacts you immediately with their location (pretty cool).
You might wonder why we are dedicating a whole month to Fall Prevention, so let me answer with most people’s least favorite things - statistics.
- Falling is the number one cause of death for our senior loved ones, and in fact, 90% of the 350,000 hip fractures in the United States every year are the result of a fall, with 40% needing nursing home care.
- Falls are the leading cause of death from injury among people 65 and older.
- Approximately 9,500 deaths in older Americans are associated with falls each year.
- Among people aged 65 to 69, one out of every 200 falls results in a hip fracture. That number increases to one out of every 10 for those aged 85 and older
- 37.3 million of these falls are severe enough to require medical attention occur each year.
And unfortunately, there is lots and lots more…
But the good news is that most of the deaths and serious injuries from falls are preventable through adhering to specific exercise regimes, home modifications (especially the bathroom), emergency notification system, and most of all, awareness.
I am glad to do my small part in keeping the conversation going about fall prevention awareness, now it is up to you. Check out your loved one’s surroundings, fix broken railings, secure loose rugs, and modify those bathrooms. The hip you save may be your own (or your loved ones).
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