Preventing my Mom from Falling again

In the last post, I described my Mom’s recent fall. She ended up in the Emergency Room but is fine now. I was alarmed but not surprised that she fell. It was not her first tumble. Her fall did raise a red flag for me. What can be done to prevent her from tripping again? And what can be done to avoid serious injury. In this post I’ll discuss two strategies. First, improving her ability to walk safely. Experts call these “intrinsic factors”. Second, creating a “fall-proof” environment. Experts call these “extrinsic factors”. There is […]

A Major Fall Waiting to Happen

Yikes, my 93-year-old Mom fell. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious, and I only heard about it the next day. Help arrived promptly since it happened outside. She was taken to the Emergency Room for evaluation and triage. They made the initial determination that she was stable enough to wait. After 8 hours of waiting, she decided she felt just fine and left. She’s not looking forward to going to the ER again. I’m not at all surprised that my Mom fell. That’s because it’s not the first time. A previous fall is the highest single predictor […]