Fall prevention becomes more crucial as you become older. As you get old, physiological changes and health issues and the treatments used to cure those illnesses increase your risk of falling. According to 2017 figures from the Seniors Health Centre, 10.1 percent of 45,000 community-dwelling seniors 65 years and above had fallen at minimum once in the preceding six months. Fractures were found in 10.2 percent of individuals who lost.
Moreover, falls also had a significant negative influence on the elderly’s self-esteem. Some people would even refuse to leave their houses after small falls out of dread of losing repeatedly.
What Is It Used For?
The purpose of patient safety precautions such as fall prevention is to keep these people safe when they’re in the facility. Washing hands to prevent infectious disease is an indication of a patient care technique that avoids harm to a patient without conflicting with their medical treatment.
Therefore, understanding the causes of falls is essential for putting a fall prevention program in place. The following are the three different kinds of falls:
- Physiological analysis (anticipated). Falls happen in people who have known potential risks for falling, such as impaired mental state, aberrant gait, regular toileting requirements, or high-risk drugs.
- Physiological analysis (unanticipated). Falls happen in a person who would typically be at minimal risk of falling due to an unforeseen incident, such as a seizure, migraine, or paroxysmal phase.
- Accidental. Falls that happen in low-risk individuals because of ecological danger. Addressing environmental safety will assist these patients in falling less, but it will benefit all patients.
What fall prevention measures should you employ?
Given the challenges of fall prevention, putting a program in place may seem difficult. To make things easier, below are fall prevention practices broken down into individual steps:
- Precautions against falls include rounding routines regularly.
- Fall risk variables are assessed in a standardized manner.
- Treatment plan and actions that tackle the recognized risk factors within the entire treatment plan for patients.
- Clinical examination and real-cause analysis are also performed following a fall.
Risk Assessment
In the following phases, all patients have a screening test conducted using the Little Schmidy Falls Risk Assessment Tool:
- As soon as following possible admission or at the time of entrance
- If a patient’s condition worsens or on a daily basis
- When a person is transferred from one institution to another
- After tripping and falling
