Falls and fall-related injuries can seriously affect older adults’ quality of life. Falls often cause painful debilitating injuries for older adults.
St. Luke’s Hospital Outpatient Rehabilitation Center will host a free fall-risk screening and conditioning program on Thursday, April 19, from 8 a.m. until noon. Appointments are necessary; call 828-894-8419 to schedule your screening.
With the Biodex Balance System SD, St. Luke’s rehab therapists can identify and modify the factors that lead to falls among older adults.
Certain people are at high risk for accidental falls and should be regularly screened to help reduce the high number of fall-related injuries and deaths in the United States, a guideline says.
The guideline, issued by the American Academy of Neurology, takes into account all available scientific studies and concluded that people with stroke, dementia, and walking and balance disorders have the greatest risk of falling. Having fallen in the past year strongly predicts that a person will suffer another fall, and people with Parkinson’s disease, peripheral neuropathy, weakness in the legs or feet and substantial vision loss are also at increased risk for falls.