Helping Older Adults Open Up About Falls
Why Older Adults are Hesitant to Talk About Falling
Diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, that weird supplement you bought from a targeted ad- there are plenty of things in our daily lives we brush under the rug when we fear being judged. Sitting in the doctor’s chair can sometimes feel like sitting under a bright judgmental spotlight! It’s a dangerous thing to withhold information from their medical team, especially when prescriptions are involved, but fear and shame are powerful things. While we’re societally shedding a positive light on being more open and transparent, most of the active aging population just weren’t raised that way. They were taught to put on a brave face, share as little as possible, and hope to stay well. According to the CDC, more than 1 in 4 elderly people fall each year but less than half tell their doctor. It’s time we destigmatize the conversation around falls before fall deaths become normal.
Fear is the likely cause for withholding the truth about falling from a doctor or anyone in an older adult’s life. What does this mean? Will people respect me less or treat me as though I’m fragile now? If I tell someone, will I start to lose my independence and worse yet, have to move from my house to community living?
Why We Need to Ask About Fall History
Fall death rates have increased 30% from the years 2007-2016, according to the National Council on Aging and if this rate continues, the CDC projects that there will be 7 fall deaths every hour by the year 2030. We need to know if our patients and residents are at risk so that we can make sure we’re doing everything we can to help.
Proper nutrition, routine exercise, and prescription adjustments can save millions of people from traumatic injury and extend lives.
As professionals working with the aging community, we should be checking in on our patients and residents: inquiring about their nutrition, noting the side effects of their medications, and facilitating daily exercise. Increasing our awareness of the signs of fall risk, making efforts to reduce risk factors, and keeping an open dialogue about health and wellness can have lasting effects.
What You Can Do to Start the Conversation About Falling
- Like developing wrinkles and getting glasses, the increase in fall risk is an inevitability of aging at this time in our culture, and should be treated as casually as the conversation of skin care and routine eye exams. Changing the stigma around falling is not just up to primary care doctors; it will take a village. Focus on the positive. The researchers noted “lack of self-efficacy” as a theme among the potential barriers to participation. To address that, consider starting a conversation with a statement that focuses on what can be done. Consider something like “many of my patients (or residents) have concerns about falls but there are effective measures you can take to prevent them. Because of this I’d like to ask you about your concerns.”
- Have concrete information to provide. Study participants expressed that they would be responsive to specific steps to take. They expressed that they did not like being asked about falls if there was not follow-up.
- Commit to fall prevention by having many types of information available, so that your questions are part of a larger effort. Consider brochures and other media – some participants in the study even suggested an informational video playing in the waiting room.
Beyond Conversations About Falling
With statistics this alarming, changing the conversation around falls in a great start but we can do more. Comprehensive risk assessment should be part of routine care. Imagine how fall rates would plummet if fall risk assessment was as standard as a colonoscopy or mammogram.
Underlying causes of fall risk – visual, vestibular, somatosensory, and central nervous system integration – can be assessed with a product like UprightVR’s Safety Net. A comprehensive report is generated in as little as 10 minutes that can now provide an individual with the information they need to target their greatest risk factors with the appropriate therapies and actually reduce their fall risk.
Reducing falls begins with normalizing: conversations, risk factor assessment, and therapeutic intervention. Providing fall risk assessments in medical and therapy agencies, and senior communities can shift the rising tide in fall rates, reducing health care expenses by millions and improving and extending lives.
For more information on UprightVR’s product, please visit uprightvr.com/featured-product/.
1. Vincenzo JL, Patton SK, Lefler LL, McElfish PA, Wei J, Curran GM. A qualitative study of older adults’ facilitators, barriers, and cues to action to engage in falls prevention using health belief model constructs. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2022;99:104610. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2021.104610
