COON RAPIDS, Minn.- (Feb. 18, 2016) – Falls are not a normal part of aging, yet one out of every three adults age 65 and older falls every year, and most have significant health and lifestyle consequences as a result. “A lot of the elderly population fall because of balance, maybe some dizziness. Sometimes it’s a simple trip, ‘I slipped, I fell’. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a mechanism injury that’s real significant like they tripped and fell down a set of stairs to result in falls,” said Julie Rennaker, R.N.
Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids sees fall victims come into the emergency room every single day. “Falls is one of the leading causes for trauma in the elderly population. Most common is hip fractures, then traumatic brain injuries. Here at Mercy we see about just under 600 patients who are admitted for falls and fall related injuries and that doesn’t even include all the patients we see in the emergency room that get discharged,” said Rennaker. To help combat the danger of falls a seven week course is being offered for older adults in the community. The Stepping On program includes teaching from a variety of medical professionals and also provides a personalized risk assessment.
“We also provide a home visit to look at home on what are some high risk things at home they can look at changing. Getting rid of rugs, looking at different things in their bathroom that might increase the risk of falls, lighting in their home, things like that,” said Rennaker. The seven week course will be offered at four different times in 2016 and only costs $10 to attend the entire series. The hope is that this series will reduce the amount of fall related trauma in the community.
“We much rather see our community happy and healthy out there rather than see them in here and having to help them through their different injuries that can be life changing for them,” said Rennaker.
For more information, or to register, call Mercy Trauma Services at 763-236-7016.
