Fall Prevention In Toronto’s Elderly And Seniors: Does Step Training Help?

Senior Health and Wellbeing  |  February 10, 2016

Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and older falls. Trauma, such as a fall, is the 5th leading cause of death among those over the age of 651. It is increasingly important seniors take steps to prevent falls if not only for their quality of life but for decreasing medical costs. Especially as baby boomers age and the population of Canadian citizens 65 and over now outnumber those under the age of 14.

Reducing Senior Falls With Step Training

According to the Ontario addition of The Globe and Mail Metro, a recent analysis of seven studies totaling 660 older adults found that improving stepping skills in seniors, which addressed improving gait and balance, cut the rate of initial falls in half. Step training also reduced the number of reoccurring falls, which is important because once seniors experience a fall, they are more likely to experience other falls.

Changing Fall Prevention Therapy in Seniors

The results of this study have an impact on skills based training and therapy (which addresses seniors’ daily needs and activities such as walking up stairs and getting in and out of the shower or bathtub). By adding step training into function specific therapy, the patient gains additional balance and gait control, therefore moving around the house and living their daily lives becomes easier and less likely to result in a fall and even hospitalization.

Keeping Toronto’s Seniors In Their Homes

For seniors and the elderly who are trying to maintain independence and stay in their homes as long as possible, step training provides them with the therapy and skills needed to manage daily actives such as getting up off the floor and walking to the mailbox. Staying in one’s home is a common desire for many seniors, and the correlation between mental health and happiness and physical health and healing is a positive one.

Regardless of what therapeutic plan doctors put together for a senior or elderly patient, this cross study analysis highlights the importance of step training in decreasing fall related injuries in seniors. Patients and loved ones should consult their doctor or physical therapist if step training isn’t included in their therapy or rehab program.

For additional information on Comfort Keepers of Canada® at Toronto or any other Comfort Keepers of Canada® location please visit our home page or call us at 416-663-2930.

¹“Trauma and Falls in the Elderly,” by Miriam T. Ashkenasy, M.D. and Todd C. Rothenhaus, M.D., for the Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, www.emed.theclinics.com.

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