Episode Transcript:
David: All right, hello everyone. This is David Chandler and Christina Chartrand again for our next episode of Life Conversations with Senior Helpers. Uh, this episode, we're going to be talking about fall prevention and September 18th through the 22nd is fall prevention week. And Christina and I are going to share a little bit about some of the things that we've experienced with our own parents and falls happening. We're going to talk about some common myths around falls and some strategies for you to take and help your loved ones to help prevent them from falling and keep them safe at home.
Christina: Yeah, this is a really great topic for us. I think it's something that at here, senior helpers, we honestly deal with on a day-to-day basis. So many of the clients that we care for have had some issue around falling. And so I think it's a really important topic to talk about. David and I were saying earlier that I had, about seven months ago, I fell, walking my dog and have a compound fracture and needed surgery, but seven months later, I'm up and about, I'm fine, and that I'm still young enough that I'm gonna bounce back pretty quickly. But when I think about fall sometimes, I think about my mom has this rug that's in the kitchen, and it drives me nuts because it's not taped down at all, and I trip over it every time that I walk in. And David, you were sharing the same story.
David: Oh yeah, I was just back home with my parents a couple weeks ago and our whole family was there and my sister, who's like five, six months pregnant right now, is they've got rugs all over their house and she almost tripped over the rug. I almost tripped over the rug and we're trying to tell them why they have like a whole path of rugs coming from their kitchen door all the way into the living room and it's rug after rug. There's like three or four different rugs. And so we're trying to ask them, you know, it's not just us. It's not just you that we're worried about falling. It's like everybody that comes in the house is tripping over these rugs.
Christina: No, I know. It is unbelievable. I'm sure all of our audience members can relate to some of this. The thing to be a little bit more serious about it is what happens is, especially when we're talking about aging seniors, the fall can be detrimental and where you may not even ever get back to the home where you call home, from a hospital stay to a rehab to long-term care, sometimes you just can't recover from it.
David: Yeah. And that's one of the things we were talking about as well. It's so important to take into account the prevention. We don't wanna be waiting until somebody has a fall to try and prevent the next fall. And so that's really what we wanna talk about on our episode today is how do we help prevent that first fall? Let's help our loved ones, help you stay home safe and independent. We don't wanna have that first fall because it may not, you may only have that one fall. before somebody is then needing to go into the hospital, going into skilled nursing, and then maybe not returning back to their home. So we've got a few myths that we're gonna be talking about today. And one of my favorite myth, what's that? Go for it, yeah, absolutely.
Christina: Can I say the first myth and then you can go? Okay. All right. This is a good one. Falls are something normal, right? They are something normal that happens as you get older. Right, David?
David: No, no, falls are not a normal part of aging, but I hear that all the time. It's just like, oh, you know, that's just happened to seniors as they get older. Falls are just a part of it. And so the first myth that we want to address is that falls are not just a normal part of aging and that we want to work to prevent these falls. We can help our loved ones to stay strong. There are things that we can do to help prevent those falls, but that's our first myth we want to bust is that falls are not a normal part of aging.
Christina: So David, where do you think is the, if we think about in a living environment, where's the riskiest place for a fall?
David: My mind immediately jumps to the bathroom. So looking at one of my favorite things to point out when I'm going out and visiting with a senior to help identify where their risk for falls is, is in the bathroom, especially when it comes to the shower. So one of our favorite things to recommend is a tub bench. So if you have a loved one, if you or a loved one are stepping in and out of the shower, that is a very high risk time. So we don't recommend, get a shower chair, but we do recommend getting a tub bench. And what a tub bench does, it has legs inside and outside of the shower. So what we want is for that senior as they're getting in and out of the shower is to sit down on the bench before they get in the shower. So that way they can sit down and then they can lift their legs into the shower while they're sitting down. Another great thing to do along with that is to have a handheld showerhead. Make sure that you have proper grab bars. Don't use suction cup grab bars. Oh my gosh. If you haven't checked out our see it, Christina, do you want to talk about our senior helpers, TikTok channel a little bit?
Christina: Yeah, you know, Senior Helpers does have a TikTok and we've kind of done a few of these fun TikToks around some of the things that you don't want to use in your bathroom or in your home environment. And one is the suction cup. So we think of a grab bar and you think, oh my gosh, I don't want to mess up my, my bathroom by having a big grab bar that won't look really nice anymore. And so I'm just going to buy one of those suction cup ones and that will help me get in and out of the shower. And what did we learn about that?
David: Oh my gosh, we couldn't even get it to stick on the wall long enough for us to do our TikTok video. Uh, so we, we do not like suction cup grab bars. Uh, we have some really funny TikToks out there too, that go over some other safety tips, but doing the, doing, having the properly installed grab bars and then non-skid tape inside and outside of the shower. Uh, another area is also going, getting up and down from the commode, from the toilet. Uh, so maybe having a VersaFrame, uh, something to help that senior as they're standing up and sitting down from the toilet. Is there another area of the home that another area that you can think of Christina or anything from the other?
Christina: I'm thinking, because that's obviously one of our big areas that we like to focus on. But I always like to talk about the areas that we don't think about, like walking into your home, right? Or walking right outside where, at the garage area, where you're maybe going into a car, or moving from one room to another. Some of those places really have hazards, such as clutter and things that could cause a fall. Also not to forget slippery surfaces, you know, so when it rains, um, something that's pen painted and it's rained can be awfully slippery. And the other part is uneven steps and handrails that I think about too.
David: Yeah, that was another thing that when I was at my parents a couple of weeks ago, they had just gotten some new stairs installed and the stairs were like this flat gray going up to their front door. They're this flat gray. And as I was walking out, and this is the home I grew up in, I lived there for over 20 years and as I was coming out, I said to them, I was like, you cannot see the difference in the colors of where these stairs are, it just all blends in. You guys gotta do something about this, either put some tape on the end of it or put a little mark because it's real, especially at night, you can't really tell where the steps are as you're coming in and out of the house, especially when you're leaving and going down those stairs.
Christina: Such a good point. And I'm gonna think of one more before we move on to our other myth. And that is the dreaded step stool. Those step stools, I personally fall in from a little step stool. We use them because we wanna get to an area that we can't reach from standing. And when we do that, we put ourselves in a risky spot, right, a risky spot for falling. And so we're not a fan, if you are using something on a regular basis, you want to have it at a level, that you can personally reach to in a standing. So be able just to reach over and pick it up with your hands standing up, but not climbing up on anything. I just, how many accidents happen with people climbing up on stepstools?
David: Yeah, absolutely. And such an easy risk to resolve. So good one to point out. All right, so.
Christina: Yeah, really is. Our next myth, because I want David to talk about this, because I don't know if everyone knows David is a registered nurse, so he can talk about some of this stuff on our next myth, but let's throw it out there. Taking medication does not increase my risk of falling.
David: So I love this myth because it can actually also go both ways. So taking medication, the myth is taking medication doesn't increase my risk of falling. And so the truth is that there are definitely some medications that can increase your risk of falling. If you're taking a sleep aid or a pain medicine, sometimes those medications can affect you or they can interact with other medications, especially if you're not used to taking them. some increased pain and the doctor gives you a prescription for a new pain medicine, especially during those times. Be careful because you can stand up too quickly, you could get dizzy, it may make you feel kind of groggy or out of it. So there are certainly some times that taking medication can increase your risk of falling. The opposite of that is that not taking your medication can also increase your risk of falling.
Sometimes you can take a medication such as a blood pressure medicine or not taking it appropriately is really the way that I would look at it. If you're not taking like a blood pressure medicine or monitoring your vital signs around that medication, then that can increase your risk of falling. And I'll share an example of this. Let's say that somebody has a blood pressure medicine and they're not checking their vital signs. And typically, this is not everyone. If somebody has been taking a blood pressure medicine for years and years and years, and the doctor has said, you know, your blood pressure is really stable, you don't need to be checking your blood pressure every day.
That may be the case, but in a lot of cases, a doctor would recommend that you take your blood pressure before taking your blood pressure medicine each day. So let's say one morning you wake up and your blood pressure is, you didn't have enough to drink the day before, you're a little bit dehydrated and now your blood pressure is like 100 over 60. Normally it's 120 over 80, but today you wake up and it's 100 over 60, you don't check your blood pressure. And the doctor may have said, if your blood pressure is that low, hold your medicine for that day. So if we're saying, hold your medicine for that day and you still take it, then your blood pressure could then drop after taking your medicine. And that's what it's supposed to do, right? Your blood pressure medicine is supposed to help keep your blood pressure lower. And so now your blood pressure drops to 80 over 40, because you went ahead and took your medicine even when you shouldn't have.
And you may go into the bathroom and you stand up and you stand up too quickly, then if anybody, any of our listeners have ever, if you've stood up too quickly and you kind of notice your vision goes a little bit dark, maybe you start to see some stars. The fancy medical term for that is orthostatic hypotension, which means that when you stand up too quickly, your butt, your heart, your blood pressure, it can't keep up with that sudden change and your blood pressure drops. And so if your blood pressure is too low and you stand up from the bathroom or you go to get out of bed, you go to stand up from the couch and your blood pressure drops and you have a fall, we may look at that and think, oh, well, they need safety.
They need a rail there to help them from falling in the bathroom. It's actually not the rail, it's not a safety risk, it's actually a risk related to taking your medication appropriately and checking your vital signs each day and writing them down, taking them to your doctor so that way your doctor can also observe those trends.
Christina: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it sounds like, you know, we run into this a lot when we're out doing our client assessments is that just not really understanding how to manage the medical condition, which ultimately is what's causing those falls. So you really bring up a really great point, David.
David: Yeah. And the most important thing with that is to go talk to your doctor. Talk to your doctor, ask them, should I be checking my vital signs and what are those parameters around my, my medications that I should be watching for? Uh, so that way, you know when to call your doctor if your, your vital signs are outside of those parameters or something like your weight may be changing. Any of those things, the doctor can help you to understand when you should notify the doctor to help prevent falls.
Christina: Really good information. So David, do we have one more myth?
David: We do, we have one last myth that we're gonna talk about and this one is a challenging one. So this one is, I don't need to talk to my parent, spouse or other older adult if I'm concerned about their risk of falling. It could hurt their feelings and it's none of my business.
Christina: Oh, I have run into this one. So I, you know, doing our, at Senior Helpers, we have what we call our life profile assessment. And I did a life profile assessment on my mom, who's 84 years old and wanted to evaluate the safety risk and needs and her level of independence in her apartment. And so some of the things that I noticed were things around potential falls. One was that rug I was telling you about. One was getting in and out of the house, the safety latch on the screen door. It closes really fast and obviously could hurt and could fall. And there were several other things that I noticed when I was doing the assessment. So I did a debrief with her. Did she wanna hear this, David? Oh.
David: No.
Christina: Did I want to talk about it and ruin our wonderful time together? No, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't want to, honestly. So what I found was is that I decided to give things in little bits versus giving a laundry list of all the things that needed to make a change. I realized that they were definitely parts of her apartment, that there needed to be made changes. And what I did is I kind of picked one at a time, I looked at the riskiest at first, and then started, you know, as time went on, I started noting some other things, but trying to do it in a way that where she feels in control of it versus me telling her like a child, this is what you need to do.
David: Yeah. And I think really, yeah. And it's not, it's not a fun conversation, but I think taking the time, I think you brought up a really good point to just bring up.
Christina: That's one of the things that helps.
David: One or two things at a time. Don't try and address all the safety risks at once, but point out the ones that are the highest risk areas and then kind of work the way, work your way down. And I think sitting down and having that conversation, not just like you said, as a, as a child to a parent, but presenting it in a way of saying, look, I really care about you, I love you, I want you to be safe, can we address this together? Because I don't you to be in the hospital. I want you to keep your independence. And that's what you want too. This is what we're wanting to address this because of wanting to keep you out of the hospital, keep you independent. You don't want to lose your independence. So what can we do to work together to make that happen?
Christina: Yeah, for sure. And you know, I think, you know, and you kind of brought it up when you were talking to your parents about it, is that's not only just a risk for them, it's a risk for anybody else walking in and out of the house, right? So sometimes just kind of making it point, but allowing them to kind of make that choice. When I was talking about the screen door and the catch on the screen door that would just slam shut, you know, and just imagine...
David: Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Christina: You're holding a load of groceries. You're trying to turn the key of the door and you're holding on the door at the same time. And that's an absolute risk for a fall there. And I remember talking to her about it and she's like, oh no, I'm fine. I visit a month later and I noticed that it was gone. The door still catches, but it doesn't have the safety, or that safety catch. And I said, oh my gosh, look the door, this was so much easier for me to get in. She's like, yes, I had maintenance come and change it. So sometimes just giving them a little bit of time to kind of think through it on their own and make that choice sometimes can help as well.
David: Yeah, absolutely. One of my favorite things too is that one of the things we've started doing at Senior Helpers is implementing a Center of Excellence. And so a number of our offices now have a training area that we use for our caregivers to go in and help identify these safety risks around the home. And I remember I was up in Milwaukee recently at our Milwaukee office and we went around and we were doing an exercise in the Center of Excellence going through it. It's like a real life apartment that's set up just like a seniors home that you would walk into. And we were walking through the bedroom set up just like a real bedroom. And I almost tripped over the comforter that was, they had purposefully pulled the comforter down. It was laying on the floor. And so when I went to walk around the bed, uh, those, the comforter was there on the ground. And so I love those opportunities to go and do some training and learn about some of the other ways. And, uh, do you want to talk any more about our center of excellence before we wrap up?
Christina: Yeah, yeah. Before we wrap up, yeah, so our center of excellence, you know, creates a realistic space for our caregivers to practice. And so instead of kind of just being in one big space with some durable medical equipment to practice how to get somebody in and out of a chair or to walk somebody down a corridor is what we do is we want to create what a normal space would look like. And so in a normal space, you're going to have things in the way. You're going to have clutter. You're going to have an ottoman. You're going to have a coffee table. You're going to have all the knickknacks. You're going to have paper on the floor, newspapers or books or things that end up on a floor. And by, and like the comforter you were talking about, and by doing that, you know, we were able to show where some of those, what we like to call hidden risks, you know, not your typical risks really can happen and help our caregivers begin to identify it so that they can help create bigger pathways in people walking around and help people learn how to maneuver, make bigger spaces, and help people maneuver around a space.
David: Awesome.
Christina: Well, this was great, David.
David: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Looking forward to our next episode where we're gonna be talking a little bit about Alzheimer's and how to help our seniors and loved ones that have that diagnosis and how to also help them a little bit more specific looking at environmental risk factors and how to support our loved ones that have that diagnosis.
Christina: Yeah. So we hope you took away a few little nuggets that you can take back to your loved one or take back to your training that you're offering with the people that you're working with. And we look forward to seeing you next time.
Thanks for joining Episode 4 of 'LIFE Conversations with Senior Helpers.' We hope this discussion on fall prevention has empowered you with knowledge and strategies to protect your senior loved ones from falls. Implementing these tips can significantly enhance the safety and well-being of the elderly in your care. Keep an eye out for our next episodes, where we continue to delve into essential topics in senior care.