Rise Above the Fear of Falling

By: Michael Leavy
Home Healthcare Adaptations


Falling is not a nice experience for anybody, but it is particularly frightening for older people, who are more likely not only to encounter a fall but also suffer serious injury or death from falling. In turn, they may feel fearful and apprehensive about simply being in their own home, and this fear can lead to a loss of self-confidence.

Therefore, those of us living with an elderly person have a responsibility to make the home as safe as possible in terms of reducing fall risk and to promote a sense of ‘I can’ over ‘I can’t’ in our elders. Older people shouldn’t be so afraid of falling that they are restrained from moving around their own home. It is up to younger family members to eliminate fall hazards insofar as possible and also to convince older people that they can move freely around the home. By pushing this positive mindset and encouraging our elders to partake in balance-improving exercises such as the chair rise, their fear of falling should subside and they will instead move around the home with confidence.

This infographic from Home Healthcare Adaptations (http://www.home-healthcare-adaptations.ie/stairlifts-dublin/) in Ireland shows how you can minimize the risk of falling in elderly people. 

content and infographic provided by: Michael Leavy
http://www.home-healthcare-adaptations.ie/stairlifts-dublin