It seems this is not always ‘common sense’. These are often simple things like removing or changing slippery floor mats, improving lighting on stairs or de-cluttering the home. “We encourage all people, as they age, to reduce fall hazards. So, while everyone can take more care about their home environment and should do exercise for balance and lower limb strength, professional support from an occupational therapist is an important intervention for many people living at home." It appears that interventions to reduce fall hazards around the home need certain elements of assessment and support to work, not just a short check list of things to tick off. The research shows that, for those at risk of falls, being aware of fall hazards in and around the home, removing hazards and adapting with safe behaviours can significantly reduce the risk of falling. These risk factors make negotiating the environment more challenging and increase the risk of a trip or slip in some situations. Professor Clemson said: “Having had a fall or starting to need help with everyday activities are markers of underlying risk factors, such as being unsteady on your feet, having poor judgement or weak muscles. Based on their analyses, the reviewers found that if 1,000 people who had previously had a fall followed these measures for about a year, the total number of falls would come down from 1,847 to 1,145. These measures have the biggest effect (38% fewer falls) for people who are at a higher risk of falls. This typically includes an assessment of fall hazards in and around the home and recommendations for lowering the risk, for instance by removing clutter and adding handrails and non-slip strips to steps. They found that taking measures to reduce fall hazards around the home lowers the overall rate of falls by 26%. Professor Clemson and her colleagues analysed the results of 22 studies including data on 8,463 older people living in the community. In this review we wanted to examine which measures could have the biggest impact on reducing falls among older people living at home.” They can cause serious injury or even death, but they are preventable. She said: “Falls are very common among older people. Lindy Clemson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney, Australia was lead author of the review. Nearly one third of people aged 65 years and older fall each year. It also found that decluttering and reducing hazards had the most benefit for older people who are at risk of falls, for example because they have recently had a fall and been hospitalised or need support with daily activities such as dressing or using stairs. The review did not find any compelling evidence for other measures to reduce falls, such as making sure older people have the correct prescription glasses, special footwear, or education on avoiding falls. Measures to eliminate hazards around the home, such as reducing clutter, adding railings to stairs and improving poor lighting, can reduce the risk of falls for older people by around a quarter, according to a Cochrane review recently published.
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