Amanda Wilde (Host): Welcome to Wellness First, a St. Joseph Hospital podcast where we hear and learn directly from experts on all things health and wellness. I'm Amanda Wilde, and my guest is Physical Therapist Tracy Sherman. Join us as we talk about fall prevention. Welcome, Tracy. Thank you so much for being here.

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Thanks for having

Host: Well, everyone falls sometimes. Why is fall prevention such an important issue for older adults and their families?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Fall prevention is so important because it has a huge impact, not only because it can cause injuries, but it can also impact your overall independence and confidence. They say about one in four older adults fall every year and about 37% of those result in a serious injury. We see patients who they end up in a multi-week, month recovery from an injury for a fall.

Some even have to move out of their homes because of an injury from a fall. So that's why it's really good to focus on both prevention and treating the injuries and balance issues. That way people can stay safe and active in living the life they want on their terms.

Host: You just mentioned balance. It makes me wonder what are the most common causes of falls?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: So we see a lot with balance, weaker muscles. We can even see things like dizziness or even side effects of certain medications. We'll notice if people have changes in their vision or sensation, meaning like neuropathy in their feet or any really myriad of issues can come up that can change your balance.

Host: And how can people recognize their own risk factors?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: So one of the biggest things I say to people is to just be aware if you're starting to feel different. I find that patients often wait to reach out to their doctor until it becomes a real problem, or they really start having a hard time. So I tell my patients the second you don't feel as confident doing things or you find yourself avoiding things because you're worried about falling, that's when you need to kind of take action.

Host: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, what role do home safety and lifestyle changes like exercise and proper footwear play in prevention?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: So home safety makes a huge difference. So if people have things like throw rugs, stairs without railings, showers without grab bars. Those are the most common places we see falls happen kind of more unexpectedly for the patients. So doing little things like installing those grab bars, having night lights for getting up at night for the bathroom, or even wearing supportive shoes around the house. They can make a big difference in terms of prevention.

Amanda Wilde (Host): And outside the house, how does physical therapy help improve balance and strength and mobility to reduce fall risk?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: So our whole goal with physical therapy is giving people the tools and confidence to move safely. So once we meet the patient, we'll take them through all of our fall risk assessments. We check their strength, balance, look at their walking and we're going to be able to come up with a personalized program to really meet their needs and what puts them at more risk of falling, so that way we're able to get them back to doing everything they were doing before more confidently.

And we're also there to help with fall prevention. You don't have to wait to come to PT until after you've already fallen.

Host: Oh, is that so? To do exercises and strategies to strengthen yourself against those risks?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Yes. And I always tell my patients objects in motion, stay in motion, right? So the second you start to notice something off and you're not able to be as active as you were before, call your doctor, come see us and we can take a look at what might be going on and see if we can make sure we stay on the course to keep you as active as you'd like to be.

Host: Staying active as we age is important not just to fall prevention. Can you talk about how activity affects overall health and independence?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Absolutely. So, overall healthy lifestyle activity level. They've actually shown research that staying active as you age improves your overall cognitive ability. You're less likely to have a cognitive decline and overall mortality rates. So the more active you are, the more likely you're able to stay doing the things you enjoy doing and stay healthy because of doing those things.

Host: Stay healthy longer. Can you share some simple exercises or strategies older adults can start using right away to stay steady on their feet?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Absolutely. So the number one strategy I tell my patients is if you feel as if you might need an assisted device like a cane or even a walker, but you want to keep putting it off and you're like, oh, I'm not ready yet. I don't want to make this change yet; that's either the time to call your doctor or start using that device.

A lot of people are in the mindset, oh, I'm not going to use it until I really, really need it. And then we end up with a fall that results in an injury where it's no longer an option. So things like that. Doing those home safety changes like the grab bars in the shower, making sure you don't have throw rugs.

And also overall, like I said, a big thing is I see patients waiting until something really bothers them to reach out. When they start to feel less confident, we could kind of try and intervene a little sooner.

Host: And then what resources does St. Joseph Hospital offer to help older adults and caregivers with fall prevention? You touched on that a little earlier, but I wonder if there is more you'd like to add.

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Yeah, so here at St. Joe's the main resource that I'm aware of, of course, is all of our outpatient physical therapy locations. Because we're able to do evaluations that have fall risk screenings. We'll do the balance and strength assessments and then we'll be able to do that personal program to see what that patient needs.

We also have a resource that's called St. Joe's Closet, and if someone maybe needs an assisted device to prevent a fall and they can't afford it, they have a lot of donated items that patients can use. So that's a great resource as well.

Host: If someone's concerned about themselves or a loved one, what's the best first step they can take?

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: The first step is really to reach out to a doctor, specifically their primary care provider, most likely, and they'll be able to identify any potential issues. Obviously, if it's a severe change in balance, very rapidly, we'll want to get that checked out, but if it's more small changes over time, that's where they'll send a physical therapy and we'll take it from there to keep people fall free and as active as we can.

Host: Well, Tracy, many thanks for all of these insights, information, and the practical tips you gave that we can start putting to use right now.

Tracy Sherman, PT, DPT: Of course.

Host: Tracy Sherman is a Physical Therapist at St. Joseph Hospital. For more information, visit st.josephhospital.com/physical-therapy. Check out the Wellness First Podcast library for more topics of interest to you. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Wellness First.