New task force to offer seniors tips on fall prevention

All it takes is a simple mistake for a senior's life to dramatically change after a fall.

Loss of lower body strength or loss of balance can prompt someone to trip on a throw rug they have walked on hundreds of times before or miss the last step in a stairway. Even the fear of falling can cause a senior to restrict movement and therefore lose body strength. As a result, a senior can end up in the hospital, sometimes never returning home.

In conjunction with National Public Health Week, April 4-10, the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center, with hospitals in Lake County, is launching a Falls Prevention Task Force to provide tips to the elderly about simple things they can do to avoid injury from falls.

The effort involves brochures explaining how people can take preventative measures to prevent falls, handouts for firefighter/paramedics to distribute when responding to calls about falls in the home, and the creation of a web page with information about various programs in the county for adults interested in how to prevent falls.

During National Public Health Week, the American Public Health Association's campaign focuses on how each of us can do a part in helping Americans live injury-free lives and therefore create safer communities.

In Lake County, falls are the second most frequent cause of hospital admission due to accident or injury for someone age 75 to 84. For those older than 85, falls are the most frequent reason for hospital admissions due to accident or injury.

“Falls can cause serious injuries to older adults,” said Jack Mills, Continuous Quality Improvement Specialist for the county health department's Population Health Services. “The goal of the task force is to help educate adults about falls prevention and decrease the incidences of falls in Lake County.”

Task force members are: Advocate Condell Medical Center, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, Vista Health System and the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center.

Mills added, “We want people to understand there are things they can do, but also that they can tell their doctor or a nurse about a fall because most health care providers will do anything they can to insure someone can continue to live safely at home. Preventing falls becomes even more important with the general population living longer lives and therefore becoming more susceptible to falls.”

Statistics from the hospitals in Lake County show that more than 80 percent of the people admitted for a fall did so in their home and of those admitting to a fall at home, more than half were discharged to a nursing home or rehabilitation facility rather than returning home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 20 percent of those who fracture a hip in a fall die within a year.

For more information about the Falls Prevention – Best Foot Forward Website, go to www.lakecountyil.gov/Health/FallsPrevention.htm.