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CAN Coalition Experts
September 23, 2024, Concussion Awareness Now

Raising Awareness, Increasing Action: The Importance of Falls Prevention Awareness Week

Many of us know someone who has experienced a fall—we may have even fallen ourselves. Each year, fourteen million people ages 65 and older — or one in four Americans — fall, whether they’re outdoors or in their own homes. In 2021, falls among adults 65 and older caused 38,000 deaths — and were responsible for nearly three million emergency room visits.

Here’s another big number: $80 billion. That’s the annual amount spent on healthcare costs related to falls. This number includes everything from the emergency room visit and hospitalizations to the rehab, doctor follow-up, and any home health or home modification requirements that need to be made after the injury.

Often, we believe that falls are inevitable as we age. We also tend to think that the most important injury that can occur because of a fall is a broken bone. Both of these assumptions are incorrect: Falls are also the #1 cause of concussions, especially in older adults. And many falls can be prevented.

A week to bring attention to falls prevention

These facts are what makes Falls Prevention Awareness Week so important. A national observance that coincides with the first week of the fall season, Falls Prevention Awareness Week seeks to raise awareness and increase action on preventing falls, reducing their risk, and helping older adults live without the fear of falling.

Concussion Awareness Now (CAN) Coalition member National Council on Aging (NCOA) has led the charge on Falls Prevention Awareness Week for the past 17 years. Kathy Cameron, the Senior Director of NCOA’s Center for Healthy Aging, says that falls prevention is a key focus of the organization’s healthy aging work. In addition to providing resources and education directly to older adults, NCOA is also committed to advancing the national conversations around falls reduction through a variety of events.

One of those events, the Falls Prevention Summit, took place earlier this month and gathered over 125 policymakers, aging experts, and healthcare practitioners to address gaps and identify new priorities for the National Falls Prevention Action Plan, which serves as a framework for action for fall prevention efforts across the United States. CAN Co-Chair, Brain Injury Association of America was one of the organizations invited to participate.

Cameron says that falls among older adults need to be managed in much the same way as chronic illnesses. “That means screening for falls, doing assessments and interventions that focus on the risk factors that older adults have, and addressing those risk factors to prevent further falls from happening,” she says. “Because when someone’s experienced a first fall, they’re most likely to fall again.”

The importance of independence for older adults

A big component of falls prevention is to protect older adults from injury, but Cameron says it’s also to protect their independence. “For many older adults, there’s a fear that if they fall, they won’t be able to live at home,” she says. This fear often leads to older adults limiting their activity. “They think that if they aren’t as active, they won’t fall—which simply isn’t true.”

These kinds of misconceptions are a big reason why Falls Prevention Awareness Week seeks to go beyond awareness and education to action. “We want people to not only understand how the actions they take in their everyday lives might contribute to a fall, but we also want them to know the specific steps they can take to increase their own safety,” Cameron says.

For example, older adults who have chronic conditions like arthritis, heart disease, or diabetes usually take medication to manage those conditions. These medications interact with our bodies differently as we age—leading to potential risk when it comes to balance. Changes in vision or hearing loss can also increase the possibility of a fall as well.

Four ways to reduce the risk of falls

So, how can older adults reduce the risk of falls in their daily lives? Cameron says there are several actions that can be taken, including:

  • Medication discussions and adjustments: Have conversations with your primary care doctor about your medications and whether they might lead to dizziness or other cognition issues. “You might be able to switch to a lower dose, or take a different medication that acts in the same way, but doesn’t affect cognition,” Cameron says.
  • Making home changes: Rearranging furniture to remove any potential hazards, improving lighting, adding grab bars or rails where needed, making sure there are non-slip bath mats in showers and tubs, and ensuring stairs are visible by adding a piece of painter’s tape or something similar to each step are just some of the ways to help your home more fall-proof.
  • Regular exercise: Strength, flexibility, and balance is something that can be regained, and the best way to do that is through consistent exercise and movement. “It’s never too late to start an exercise program,” Cameron says. “You can often get a referral to a physical therapist who can share with you what exercises would be best based on your needs.”
  • Don’t be afraid to use a walking aid: There’s often a stigma in using walking aids like a cane or a walker, but Cameron says that for some older adults, it’s what’s needed to maintain their independence and regain their strength and balance.

Concussion symptoms can be even riskier for older adults

These actions are particularly critical when considering the link between falls and concussions in older adults. “Compared to a younger person with the same severity of TBI, older adults actually experience an increased risk for physical, cognitive, and psychological consequences. They also tend to take longer to recover and have more complications than younger people. “We also see higher rates of mortality due to TBI among older adults,” Cameron says.

Cameron says that if an older adult hits their head, they should get it checked out immediately. “My father passed away as a result of a subdural hematoma,” she says. “He fell and he didn’t have any symptoms, so he never got checked out. He developed symptoms later on, experienced another fall, and unfortunately wasn’t able to recover.”

Starting the conversation begins with openness and empathy

The experience with her father is a big reason why Cameron advocates for children and caregivers of older adults to have honest conversations with them—not about falls specifically, but the importance of remaining independent. “That’s what older adults really want,” she says.

“When you put it in the context of, ‘I want to make sure that you’re able to live on your own for years to come” instead of ‘I want to make sure you don’t fall and hurt yourself,” it’s a non-paternalistic way to put them in control of the situation and help them figure out what the solutions are to make sure that independence can continue to happen.”

Cameron says it also helps to let the older adults in your life know that you’re also thinking about the topic and the choices you can make with your own health to reduce your own risk of falling—and by extension, reduce your risk of concussion.

“It’s never too early to start thinking about falls prevention,” she says.

Want to #StartTheConversation around falls prevention and concussion? Here are a few resources that can help: