Maggie McKay (Host): With age sometimes comes unwelcome events, like falls, but the more you know how to prevent them, the less likely you are to take a spill. Suzanne Morley, Health Promotion Program Coordinator, discusses ways to think ahead and avoid falls. Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Thank you so much for being here today, Suzanne.

Suzanne Morley: Yeah, thanks for having me, Maggie.

Host: I don't know about you, but I don't think we can cover this topic enough because it touches so many people, especially elderly. So what puts me at risk of falling?

Suzanne Morley: Yeah, there's a number of things, and some of them are pretty, they come right to the top of your head, tripping up the stairs. It's winter in Wisconsin, the snow and the ice is well around us right now. But as we age, there's a number of other things that really can put us at risk of a fall.

So things like lower body weakness, having difficulty with walking or balance. Oftentimes as we age we're on more medications, so those medication side effects, and not just the prescription medications, but even those over-the-counter medications as well. Problems with vision or hearing, foot pain, not wearing the proper footwear, especially on that snow and ice, but you know, even in other months throughout the year.

And then home hazards like throw rugs, poor lighting, and clutter. And then of course, oftentimes, a fall is caused by a combination of these risk factors. 

Host: So you just mentioned some of them, but how can we reduce our risk of falls as we age? You mentioned falling up the stairs, which I have done many times. And I, everytime I do it, I can't believe it, but better than down the stairs, I guess. But, so when we get older, what can we do?

Suzanne Morley: Yeah, definitely. I know I have, myself as well, tripped up the stairs many, many times, down the stairs as well. Things specifically in our home we want to talk about, because we know most falls do happen at home, making those dimly lit spaces like stairwells, more bright, making sure that there's handrails on one side, even on two sides is even more safer. Using the handrails, not just having them, but using them, taking your time, that mindfulness and really just being aware of your surroundings as well.

Reducing clutter. I know oftentimes people have things on their stairs. I'm guilty of it as well, but moving those things out to the side, off the stairs is really important. And just removing clutter throughout walkways, throughout your home as well. Removing things like throw rugs in your home that you might trip on or catch your feet on.

And then improving safety at home. So, adding grab bars to your bathroom, your shower, by your toilet. Having maybe a bed rail to help you get in and out of bed. Even adding grab bars to exterior doors so you can have something to grab onto as you're going in your home. Always wearing good safe footwear with good tread, not only around the community, but also in your home as well.

And then getting your vision and hearing checked every year and making sure that you're aware of your medication side effects and getting those medications checked every year as well.

Host: I love all those, but especially the mindful, slow down one, because that's something we can do if we just think about it. And I have to tell you, almost every time I've fallen, it's cause I was rushing. My mom used to say, haste makes waste. And it's so true. So, why should I tell my health care provider if I've had a fall?

Suzanne Morley: Yeah, it's really important to have those open and honest conversations with your health care provider and let them know if you do fall. So we know more than one in four older adults falls each year. Less than half of those older adults tell their health care provider. But telling your health care provider when you fell, the circumstances of the fall, was it night time, did you have a recent change in medication, were you sick or did you have any other symptoms that might have contributed to your fall. Really working through to try to get to those root causes of your fall so that they can identify those resources that might be able to best assist you.

They might be able to refer you to a physical therapist, to help you learn some balance and strength exercises, occupational therapy to help with some of those home hazards and improving safety at home. Maybe they can refer you to someone for a medication review. Maybe there's a medication you've been on for years and years and the dosage could be reduced, or you might be taking medications that are interacting with each other, or referring you to someone that can assess your vision and your hearing as well. So really being open and honest with your healthcare provider, sharing your concerns, even if you haven't fallen, sharing that you're maybe concerned about falling and you have a fear of falling, and asking for a falls risk assessment at your next appointment.

Host: That's a good idea. Suzanne, why is fall prevention so important?

Suzanne Morley: Yes, I briefly mentioned that fear of falling. Fear of falling, whether or not you've had a fall, can kind of put you in a cycle where you have this fear, you're reducing your activity, which maybe then limits your balance and your strength and actually further increases your risk. So, taking action and knowing the risk factors and different things that you can do to prevent falls can help you really avoid this cycle.

And empower you to do things like practice balance and strength exercises, make some of those changes in your home, and talk to your health care provider so that you can remain independent in your home as long as you're safely able to. All of these things, practicing falls prevention, really putting that into practice, practicing that mindfulness, are all things that can help you avoid a life changing injury or even death due to a fall.

Host: And what is the Stepping On program?

Suzanne Morley: Yeah, that's a great question. Stepping On, it's kind of, might be a little bit biased, it's my bread and butter at the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging. It's a research and proven program. It's proven to reduce the risk of falls by 31%, which is great. So it's a community falls prevention program. It can be taken in person or online and it runs for seven weeks, two hours a week and covers many of the things that we've already kind of talked about.

So vision, home hazards, medications. Each session includes practicing balance and strength exercises that can be done right in the comfort of your own home. And then a number of guest experts are also included in the program. So we invite in a physical therapist, a pharmacist, a vision expert, so you can get that one on one attention with those really big key experts in falls prevention.

So highly recommend taking the Stepping On program if you do have a fear of falling, if you have fallen, or if you're just really just interested in being proactive to prevent falls and remain independent.

Host: What are some other programs and resources available if I'm interested in learning more?

Suzanne Morley: Yeah, there's a lot of other programs. Like I said, I'm biased to Stepping On, but many other programs can be found through your local senior center, your aging and disability resource center or ADRC, local gyms or fitness centers, or other community service organizations or nonprofit organizations. So programs that you want to look for are programs that are going to improve your balance and your strength and flexibility, or some other comprehensive falls prevention programs. So some of the ones that you may have heard of include Strong Bodies, which is an exercise program, Bingo Size, which has been popping up throughout Wisconsin pretty regularly within the past year. So it's a bingo/exercise/falls prevention program.

And there's others as well that are pretty fun and incorporate dance, like Ballroom Basics for Balance. There's lots of great programs out there. You really want to look for one that does target your improvement of balance and strength, but then also talks about other hazards that can put you at risk for a fall.

And we also have a whole website dedicated to falls prevention resources. It's fallsfreewi.org, and that has resources, handouts, videos, that show you as an older adult and caregivers and anyone else interested in preventing falls, ways to do that and maintain independence as we age. We also have an interactive home safety challenge on fallsfreewi.org. It's kind of like a game that you can go through a real Wisconsin home, and it shows you tips for making those home safety improvements at your own home.

Host: Well, this has been so informative and you've given us such great ideas to implement that everyone can do if we just think about it. And like you said, be mindful. So thank you so much for your time and sharing your expertise, Suzanne.

Suzanne Morley: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Maggie.

Host: Again that's Suzanne Morley. And if you'd like to find out more, again, please visit wihealthyaging.org. That's wihealthyaging.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and you can go to stoughtonhealth.com and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you, Thanks for listening to Stoughton Health Talk.