If it weren’t for my late father’s hospice nurse, I’m sure my mom would have fallen by now:
he saw her moving about our apartment and told her to use her walker ALWAYS. She listened, and it has saved her from taking some tumbles.
(I shared that with my mom’s permission and though this isn’t the point of today’s story, it demonstrates one of the powers of home care: seeing people in their lived environments allows providers to address certain issues and prevent others that don’t come to light when people are seen sitting in a clinic.)
Walkers notwithstanding, people still fall. But that’s only part of the problem.
Desola “Dr. Dessy” Laolu-Akinola is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a Geriatric Clinical Specialist. She wrote an eye-opening post on LinkedIn that she allowed me to share:
Fall prevention is a billion-dollar lie that’s killing our seniors.
My 85-year-old patient had every safety device.
Grab bars. Non-slip mats. Motion lights.
Alert necklace.
He still fell.
3 AM. Bathroom floor.
But here’s the twist: The equipment wasn’t the problem.
It was what happened next.
10 hours on the floor.
Wife calls friend at 4 AM. “Coming right over.”
Friend never shows.
They wait.
Too embarrassed for 911.
“Just a fall,” they think.
By morning: Dehydration. Pressure sores. Complications.
Hospital stay: 3 weeks.
Outcome: Nursing home.
Plot twist number two: The fall didn’t put him there.
The inability to get up did.
Here’s what shocked me most:
47% of people who can’t get up after a fall die within a year.
Not from falling.
From lying there.
Every grab bar: Useless once you’re down.
Every safety mat: Can’t help you stand.
Every balance class: Worthless on the ground.
We’ve been solving the wrong problem.
The industry sells prevention.
Life demands recovery.
Another twist: Your grandkids have the skill that could save your life.
Getting up from the floor.
When did you lose it?
Test right now:
Sit on the floor.
Stand back up.
No hands on furniture.
Can’t do it?
You’re not ready to live alone.
Can do it?
Practice daily or lose it.
Final twist:
The billion-dollar safety industry forgot to teach the one skill that actually saves lives.
Getting back up.
Beyond appreciating my ability to get up in a new light, this post took me back to when I got trained to respond to emergencies in a sprawling building where my fellow feds were dying of heart attacks before EMS arrived.
Then, it got me thinking about getting trained to help neighbors up after a fall.
Then, it got me poking around until I found this:
What to Do When Someone Falls—And How to Help Them Up
#NeighborsAreFirstResponders
Follow Dr. Dessy for more enlightening posts about optimal aging.
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