I work with older people
It might not be in your job title, but if you have a professional or voluntary role working with older people, and are in a position to give advice on how they can reduce their risk of falls, then you have a role to play in falls prevention.
With more than a third of people over the age of 65, and half of those aged over 80, having a fall which requires hospital treatment every year, your role in protecting at risk customers and service users is more important than ever.
Making the most of every contact
Case finding, the art of spotting someone at risk and signposting the appropriate professional support, is one of the key recommendations made by the National Falls Prevention Coordination Group. Older people may not necessarily see themselves as at risk for falls until after an accident so using existing contact points to increase awareness of risk factors and the support available within this group is crucial. It might be as simple as finding the phone number for a local optician, highlighting the danger of clutter on the stairs or encouraging service users to find out more about fall prevention using RoSPA’s free Fall Fighter presentation.
Making simple changes to the home environment can prevent accidents. Regular light activity and movement throughout the day, coupled with some specific exercises that help to improve strength and balance can also help people avoid falls. There is lots of information on these topics in the ‘personal falls advice’ area of this hub. Take a look at the resources available there – they could provide great conversation starters with your customers and service users.
Social housing
Social renters are disproportionately affected by poverty and poor health outcomes. For older people in social housing with low or no disposable income, falls are a very real threat to independence and self-sufficiency. In such instances a fall could trigger a spiral of negative outcomes leading to increased vulnerability, safeguarding issues, and further complexity to interactions between renter and their social landlord. Injuries, dampened confidence and lost independence can lead to property neglect and reliance on care and social support - all of which damage community adhesion.
To reduce the burden of falls in social housing RoSPA have developed a 3-component toolkit containing materials specifically designed for the social housing sector. It includes home safety check sheets and a framework for delivering consistent and reliable advice for older tenants to reduce their falls risk. A brand-new version of Fall Fighter, RoSPA’s fall prevention awareness material, has also been developed, empowering frontline housing staff to spread falls awareness and risk reduction tips in professional settings and at home with family.
Falls Management Exercise (FaME)
We’re delighted to be working with Later Life Training, who have provided some exercise demonstration videos and top 10 exercises for strength and balance featured on our personal falls advice page. Later Life Training are leaders in the field of evidence-based health and exercise, and provide training for health and exercise professionals working with older people and frailer older people. They are training a network of professionals to deliver FaME – the Falls Management Exercise – a program that’s scientifically proven to reduce the risk of falls in older people!
Stand up. Stay up
RoSPA previously hosted the Stand Up, Stay Up national falls prevention programme, and is still active in fall prevention networks at a national level. If you would like further information to help support you in your role, please email us and we’ll be pleased to assist.