SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE BOOK

About the Book

The Complete Guide to Fall Prevention™ is for anyone who has fallen or who is concerned about falling, regardless of age or physical condition. I wrote the book to be educational, entertaining, and easy to read. I’ve done my best to take research-based findings and explain why you need to do them and how to do them in an easy, practical way that is not only easy to understand but also apply to YOUR life. After reading this book, I hope you understand how aging affects your balance, what you need to do, what happens if you don’t do it, how to do it and how to customize it to you. You will have a solid routine of exercises to do throughout the week and how to modify to your ability. My hope is that after reading this Complete Guide to Fall Prevention, you will not only understand how to reduce the risk of a fall but also how to implement safety strategies easy to do. More importantly, I hope this book empowers you to get stronger, improve your balance, flexibility and posture! You may be reading this guide for your own safety or because you are concerned about your spouse, a parent, a grandparent, an uncle or an aunt, or an elderly neighbor. Whatever your reason for reading, I want to congratulate you for wanting to learn more about how to keep yourself and loved ones free from falls and independent within the home.

CDC, 2014 estimates…

• 1 in 4 adults over age 65 living at home will fall this year • 1 of 2 people over 80 will fall this year • 2 out of 3 residents in assisted living facilities will fall year

That’s a LOT of falls!

Comedians make jokes about falling and there are a lot of funny stories about falling but regardless of how much you laugh at them, falls are serious!

Although falls are associated with the aging process, they are not a normal part of growing older! There is usually an underlying cause or external hazard that increases the possibility of losing your balance. These causes and threats are referred to as fall risk factors and the more risk factors you have, the greater your chance of falling.

The good news is that up to 55% of falls can be prevented* Educating yourself about balance and fall risk factors is the first and most important step you can take to remain independent.

Things that cause falls

Because there are so many causes for falls, there are equally as many ways to reduce the risk of an accidental fall. Luckily, an increased awareness of risk factors and by consistently engaging in balance- and strength-specific activities can dramatically improve your balance. Fall prevention researchers have determined that addressing two or more fall risk factors significantly reduces the risk of losing your balance. You do this by implementing two or more of the following:

• Education about falls and fall risk factors • Modifying the home environment • Managing medications • Participating in a fall prevention exercise routine

REMEMBER, over 50% of falls can be prevented!

Extensive research has determined that there are two types of fall risk factors: 1. External, or Extrinsic, causes 2. Internal, or Intrinsic, factors

Some factors you can change and some you cannot.

External causes for falls

External causes for falls are defined as

• Outside of the individual • Situations a person usually has some type of control over

The Home Environment

There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home! We love our homes.

In fact, 80% of older adults want to remain in their homes until death. One of the most popular concepts in the aging is “aging in place” because this gives people what they want; people want to grow old and die in the comforts of home. Even though senior living communities have improved tremendously in the past decade, I don’t know many older adults who want to voluntarily move into an assisted living facility. Unfortunately, there may come a time when such a move is necessary (like after a fall) but for the most part, it’s safe to say that most older adults want to remain in their homes as long as possible. With that said, the importance of creating a safe environment cannot be understated. It is estimated that approximately 60% of falls occur in the home and the most common environmental issues are surface and lighting-related. These are the HIGH FALL RISK FACTORS: • Dim lighting • Slippery floors • Obstacles in the pathway

2. Feet (Scientific term: Somatosensory)

This sensory system provides valuable information about the environment and our balance. We have “feelers” all over our body but tons of these feelers under our feet and behind our neck. I call these “feelers” our body position receptors. The main function of these receptors is to give us feedback about our body, the environment around our body, and where one is located in relation to the other. Balance is dependent on this system when eyes are closed and ground is solid. As we get older, we naturally lose some ability to feel our feet in contact with the ground. As a result of this reduced sensation, we sway more while standing still so our body can recognize where we are in space. Cool, huh? Now just imagine you have peripheral neuropathy (cannot feel feet/burning/tingling sensation in feet/lower legs). You feel this ‘reduced sensation’ constantly. Now close your eyes. Your body is swaying all over the place. That’s because when you close your eyes… your body’s “position receptors” are trying to figure out where you are in space. (aka, more swaying, bigger distances). Scientific. Your body’s central nervous system’s functioning in daily balance. This sounds complicated but if you can’t feel the ground under your feet, let’s just say you are at greater risk of falling.

The purpose of this portion of “It Makes Sense” balance training is to increase the awareness of how far you can lean while seated or shift while standing without losing your balance.

I strongly encourage that exercises done during this portion are done with either sunglasses on, lights dimmed or eyes closed

Trunk turns to the sides For those of us still driving, we all have them; those dreaded blind spots. Doing these seated trunk turns to the sides will help you to check those spots without driving off the road. These are the same trunk rotations that you do in the warm up. Right and Left-side Rotational Action:

• Sit tall with eyes closed and

arms in challenging position • Inhale then exhale as you

turn your upper body to look over your right shoulder.

• Feel the pressure under your left foot and tension in your left thigh as you do this turn to the right. Hold 3 seconds then return to homebase.

• Repeat 5 times to the right then do 5 times to the left.

Feel the pressure under the opposite foot as you turn your trunk to the side