Master trainers Kelly Robinette and Brooke Mainville discuss the benefits of the evidence-based program A Matter of Balance that will be offered in January.
Master trainers Kelly Robinette and Brooke Mainville discuss the benefits of the evidence-based program A Matter of Balance that will be offered in January.
Good morning. This is Kitty Glomski along with
Brooke:my cohost Brooke Mainville
Kitty Glomski:from Region 9 Area Agency and Aging and another episode of Let's Talk About Aging.
Brooke:Happy fall, Kelly.
Kelly:I love fall, but with fall comes that other stuff that I'm not in favor of. Fall is just a beautiful season. So I hope we have a gorgeous fall this year.
Brooke:Me too, and I think it's coming early, to be honest. I think I'm noticing the leaves changing already.
Kelly:They usually do about August. They start changing in the middle of August.
Brooke:Today we have a topic about fall on fall prevention. Welcome back, Kelly. You've been here in the past to talk about cooking for one and diabetes, and today you're talking about fall prevention.
Kelly:I feel like a real celebrity.
Brooke:We're lucky to have you. Kelly, do you want to just introduce yourself?
Kelly:My name is Kelly Robinette. I have worked the Area Agency on Aging about 22 years and I'm in charge of the congregate and home delivered meal programs as well as teaching some of the evidence based classes with Brooke.
Brooke:One of them that we talk about makes it relevant to this topic, is that matter of balance fall prevention workshop series.
Kelly:Absolutely. It's a wonderful class.
Brooke:Yeah, I agree. That's probably our most popular one, I would say. Kelly, why do you think talking about fall prevention and doing matter of balance is so important?
Kelly:Because losing one's balance and falling is a common hazard for the elderly. The fact is that each year, millions of older adults 65 or older fall. In fact, more than one out of four older adults fall each year, but less than half tell their doctor. Falling once doubles your chances of falling again; however, falls can be preventable.
Brooke:You're going to talk about ways that they can be preventable, but before we do that, we're going to play a fun game. It's called Fact or Myth.
Kelly:This is how it's going to work. I'm going to read a couple statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and you can try guessing whether they're a fact or a myth. The first one is: each year, 3 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries. Is that a fact or a myth? Three
Brooke:million people are in the ER. I'm going to say that's a myth. I think that three million is just a little too low actually. I'm going to say that's a myth, Kelly.
Kelly:And that's a fact. In effect, 3 million older adults are treated in ERs each year for falls.
Brooke:That's still a lot of people. Absolutely.
Kelly:Question number two: over 500,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often because of a head or a hip injury.
Brooke:500,000 patients. I would say that that's a lot. I'm going to say true-fact.
Kelly:Actually, that's a myth. There are actually more. It's over 800,000 patients a year are hospitalized due to a fall injury. Wow. So 3 million of them are brought in, but then 800,000 of them are hospitalized due to that fall. Plus, I think maybe that's even more because some people might not even go to the ER or seek medical treatment. So that number could even be higher.
Brooke:Yeah, and the term for a fall doesn't even have to be falling on the ground. It could just be a misstep like you said earlier.
Kelly:Absolutely. And our last question: in 2015, the total medical costs for falls total more than 50 billion dollars. 50 billion is a lot of money, Kelly. So I want to hope that it is false and it's not that much. So I'm gonna go myth. In fact, that's a fact. Falls do not only have a physical cost, but also a financial cost. Of that$50 billion, Medicare and Medicaid shouldered 75 percent of those costs. So that still leaves 12 billion paid by private or out of pocket payers.
Brooke:That's a lot of money due to falls. 12 billion out of pocket, but then a total of 50 billion.
Kelly:That's a lot of money. Yeah.
Brooke:So like you said, it's not even physical, but also economical to figure out ways to prevent falls. So, Kelly, what are some ways that we can prevent falls?
Kelly:Falls can be prevented. These are some simple things you can do to keep yourself from falling. The first thing you do is ask your doctor to evaluate your risk for falling and about specific things you can do.
Brooke:Okay, this seems simple, but still one out of four older adults fall each year and less than half of them would go to a doctor. You just told us that.
Kelly:Well, another tip you can ask your doctor or your pharmacist to review your medications. We call those like a brown bag review. Just stick them in a brown bag and take them in. And the pharmacist may see anything that might make you dizzy or sleepy. This could include prescription medicines and sometimes even over the counters because now we go to many different doctors. So sometimes one doctor doesn't know what the other doctor is prescribing, but your pharmacist is one that's going to have your full list of your medications. So they can actually see if there's any drugs that may interfere with each other.
Brooke:That's a good tip. A lot of people don't even know that over the counter drugs, herbal teas, prescription drugs, even medicated ointments can have reactions with other drugs. And also, I know that there are a lot of free medication lists if you want to keep them written and with you available online as well.
Kelly:Yes, that's a very good tip. You know, we should keep a list of our medications with us because you know we can hand them to our doctor and for some reason we have to go to the emergency room or whatever, we have that list right there and ready. We can also do exercises that can make our legs stronger and can improve our balance. Besides our matter of balance class, Tai Chi is another good example of the kind of exercises.
Brooke:MSU Extension, they host Tai Chi all around our region. So that's a great one. And that's a 16 week workshop series.
Kelly:And I've heard from people in our Matter of Balance class who have taken the Tai Chi, and they said the two classes go together just wonderfully. So, what you learn in one class, you're going to be working on it in the other class, and I think the Tai Chi class carries it even farther than what we do because it's longer.
Brooke:You're giving out some good tips, Kelly. Do you have more for us?
Kelly:And another one, you can have your eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year to be sure to update your glasses if you're needed. And if you have bifocal or progressive lenses, you may want to get a pair of glasses with only your distance prescription for outdoor activities such as walking. Sometimes these types of lenses can make things seem closer or farther away than what they really are.
Brooke:A lot of insurances cover a yearly visit, if I'm not mistaken.
Kelly:Yes, they do. And some insurances may even cover two, so it's very important to get those eyes checked, especially if you haven't done it in a long time. And then we can also make our homes safer by getting rid of things that you could trip over. We all have those little piles that we have around our house that we're just so accustomed to that sometimes we don't think of those as a trip hazard. And some of the other things we can do, we can add grab bars inside and outside our tub or shower and next to the toilet. But with that said, we might want to watch those ones that can be held on by suction cups. Because sometimes they might let go of the grip when you're hanging on to them, and we don't want nothing to happen to you, so it's best to get the ones that are installed into the studs.
Brooke:We heard accidents where people use their towel rack, right?
Kelly:And the towel rack comes undone. And we need to have railings on both sides of the stairs. And make sure you're using them as you're walking up and down the stairs. Make sure your home has lots of light by adding more or brighter light bulbs. And one of the tips that one of the seniors gave us out of the one of the matter of balance classes that they had was night lights. He puts night lights in a lot of rooms or even down the hallway so that if they he has to get up in the middle of the night then the hallway was lit up the rooms have some type of light in them especially if you have maybe an older home where you have to walk like I do I have to walk all the way through my kitchen to get to the light all the way through my dining room to get to the light switch. So if I had like a light, a night light in there that at least brightens the room up and I can see if there's any trip hazards in my way.
Brooke:I bought some motion censored ones to go up the stairs because at night you turn all your lights off and then you go up the stairs and you know, so they're on Amazon motion light, one battery each and they were$10 for a pack of three.
Kelly:It's a good idea, especially if you have pets because sometimes they'll lay in the middle of the floor and they won't notify you that they're there until you step on them or step on their tail and you get a yelp out of them. Other things we can do, we can keep items we use often in our cabinets on the bottom shelves, or maybe even on our counters, or you can easily reach them with a step stool that has like a handle on it that you can stand on. You can use non slip mats in the bathtub, or on the shower floors, or those little non slip butterfly decals that you can stick on the bottom of your bathtub so that you get a little bit of grip because sometimes when we, if you don't have any of those I remember one time I cleaned my shower and I went to get in and my goodness that cleaner I used was so slick, I went sliding in my shower. Oh, do you have grab bars, Kelly? At that time I didn't and it wasn't a pretty sight. Get those decals and those mats out of the floors, people.
Brooke:That's the thing like we talked about, right? What's more expensive, buying a$30 to$60 grab bar or going to the emergency room? What's going to save you money and also prevent an injury.
Kelly:We want to keep everybody in their homes as long as we can. Not in those hospitals.
Brooke:I also wanted to talk about home fitness. You kind of just talked about it, the whole modifications, checking our home. AARP has a wonderful home fit guide that makes your home safer. It prevents falls and it comes in many different languages. If you're interested, all you have to do is go to Google and type in AARP Home Fit Guide, and they have a whole book that they'll mail you, where you can go through your home and check different things. And like we say in the classes, have someone else do it, because am I going to dock myself down for having throw rugs? No, because I might not want to get rid of my throw rugs, but my mom might be like, okay, you need to get rid of that.
Kelly:Brooke is absolutely right, because we live in our homes, we're so used to seeing the throw rugs on the floor, the pile at the bottom of our steps, or the stack of newspapers that we don't think that they could be trip hazards. Somebody coming in your home with a fresh pair of eyes can point those out to you and say, Hey, all those rugs on the floor, they're on a slippery floor and you don't have any backing on them." You know, we either need to get rid of them or put some type of backing on them so that when we step on them, they don't have the possibility of slipping out from underneath us as we walk on them.
Brooke:I have wood floor in my hallway with a runner. I bought the stickers that go underneath to put my rug permanently down and that was again under$10 and I think we got 15 stickers. So, it prevents an injury. And then I know we didn't talk about it on the list, but is our cords, right? Kelly, how dangerous are extension cords or cords from the TV or our telephone cords really can be.
Kelly:Absolutely. Make sure that those are all tucked behind furniture, or if for some reason that you have to have them, if you have an old home and you have to string them across floors, make sure like a piece of duct tape over top of them to keep them added down. Or they have cord protectors that you can put down so that we don't trip over them.
Brooke:Like you said, we want to make your homes as safe as it can be so you can stay in there longer. So, Kelly, what can happen after a fall? I know we just talked about ways to prevent it, but, you know, what happens after someone does have a fall?
Kelly:Sometimes falls do not cause injuries, but one out of five falls does cause a serious injury such as a broken bone or a head injury. These injuries can make it hard for a person to get around, do everyday activities, and live on your own. Falls can cause a broken bone, like a wrist, arm, ankle, or a hip fracture. Falls can also cause head injuries. These can be serious, especially if the person is taking certain medications like blood thinners, and an older person who falls and hits their head should see the doctor right away to make sure that they don't have a concussion or any type of brain injuries. Many people who fall, even if they are not injured, become afraid of falling. This fear may cause a person to cut down on their every day activities. When a person is less active, they become weaker and this increases their chances of falling.
Brooke:We see that in matter of balance, right? If someone has a fall and they've had a serious injury, they tend to be more fearful, causing them not to move and be more sedentary, which causes them to be weaker and causes more falls.
Kelly:Yes, and we don't want that. We want everybody to stay as active as they can.
Brooke:So it's rebuilding that confidence then So Kelly, are there certain conditions that make it more likely that you fall?
Kelly:Research has identified many conditions that contribute to falling, and these are called risk factors. Many risk factors can be changed or modified to help prevent falls. Some of those risk factors are: lower body weakness in your legs and in your ankles; a vitamin D deficiency, and that is not enough vitamin D in your system because you know we live up north and it seems like over half of our year is with that stuff that falls from the sky that we don't like to talk about, but you know we don't get as much sunshine at times of the year; Then there's difficulties with walking and balance. Sometimes the chronic conditions that we may have makes it a little bit difficult for people arthritis, chronic pain and Parkinson's. Sometimes if we don't have enough lower leg strength people shuffle. You've seen people shuffle. That's not good. Use of medications such as tranquilizers, sedatives, or antidepressants, and even some over the counter medications can affect balance and how steady you are on your feet. There are vision problems. We already recommended getting your eyes checked every year. There's foot pain or poor footwear. When you go to your doctor, make sure that your doctor checks out your feet every visit. There are home hazards or dangers such as broken or uneven steps, throw rugs or clutter that can be tripped over that we've talked about. Most falls are caused by a combination of risk factors. The more risk factors a person has, the greater their chances of falling. Health care providers can help cut down a person's risk by reducing the fall risk factors listed above. Don't be afraid to tell your health care provider that you've fallen or that you are leery about falling because they want to help you, they don't want to put you in a nursing home. They want to help you stay in your home as long as you can. So, don't be afraid.
Brooke:They might even recommend a physical therapist. I know in the Alpena area, they do that fall preventative, there is a different physical therapy. They do an assessment and then they help with fall prevention for older adults. So your doctor might prescribe physical therapy or give you at home exercises. You could always do it yourself with that sit and be fit. If you think you're there. One thing I wanted to hit on that you talked about too is poor footwear. How often do we see older adults wearing slippers that they had for the last 30 years.
Kelly:Yeah, the soles, or they wear shoes that don't fit properly when they walk. They flop up and down, or sometimes the older ladies still like to wear heels a little bit when they dress up and go out. So it's very important to make sure that you have shoes that fit properly and nice rubber soles.
Brooke:Kelly, you and I are both master matter of balance leaders. So what is matter of balance?
Kelly:Brooke and I highly recommend that everybody take this class, whether you've fallen or just want to gain some insight into it. If you've fallen, we can help with some ways to change how you feel about falling. So our Matter of Balance class is eight two hour small group sessions. They're led by trained facilitators that helps older adults who are concerned about falls. have had falls in the past or are interested in improving their flexibility, balance, and strength. These classes are designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults.
Brooke:We had one participant who said after completing matter of balance, getting in and out of bed became easier. And then we had another participant that said, after completing matter of balance, I became more diligent in completing my exercises, taking my time and being more aware of my surroundings. So those are just two.
Kelly:Over the years, we've had lots of people go through this class. And as soon as people take the class, they want to know when the next one is starting again, even though the content will be the same, the group dynamics will be different. So you can learn different things from different people in different classes.
Brooke:It's evidence based, so it's been studied and proven to work. You have conversations about falls and what to do, so you're hearing from others that are in the same situation as you. So, Kelly, who is the program designed for?
Kelly:It's designed to benefit any older adult who is concerned about falling, has sustained falls in the past. Anybody that has restricted activities because of their concerns about falling. Anybody interested in improving flexibility, balance, and strength. Our age is 60 or older, whether you live in a community, you live in your own home, you live in an apartment, you live in a assisted living, we're here to help. On week three through eight, the first thing we do in the class is an exercise program. All the exercises can be done sitting down or they can be done standing up and it takes about half hour to do the exercises. Everybody in the class will get a copy of the exercises so they can do the exercises on their own in between classes. It's kind of fun to notice that how people start out at the class because sometimes people can't move their shoulders because of injuries or whatever. But to see at the eighth class how much more easily that they can move because they did exercises in the class and they've done the exercises outside of the class.
Brooke:We had one participant who used to walk over a mile a day. So he thought, oh, this is going to be easy. But then he was like, wow, I'm working muscles that I don't usually work by walking so he gained so much out of the matter of balance, even though he was so physical before. That one individual thought he was doing really good, but then he found out that matter balance helped him in a different way.
Kelly:Cause all the exercises we do go right from the top of your head down to the bottom of your feet. And like I said, they can all be done sitting down.
Brooke:Another great thing is that part of the program is a guest speaker come in who's usually a occupational therapist or physical therapist talk and show us different exercises. They are a great resource for older adults as well.
Kelly:Yes, and there's any questions that Brooke and I can't answer, we save those up for the physical therapist and they can answer all the questions. Sometimes they show us different exercises that are good for the same thing that we have in class, but they're just different type of exercises. So it's very beneficial when the physical therapist or occupational therapist comes in.
Brooke:We have a workshop coming up. It's not till January 9th of 2024, but that's around the corner and it goes till February 6th of 2024 and that's from 9:30 to 11:30 and via zoom. So we actually provide matter balance in person or online. If you want to register, you can call me at 989-358- 4616. Or you can email me at mainvilleb@nemcsa org. It is located on our website or our Facebook page, so if you're interested in this class, I highly suggest that you take one either in person or online.
Kelly:In the online classes, we still do all the exercises. We do the exact same thing in the online classes we do an in person class, except we're over the computer.
Brooke:And we wanted to offer it in January when we have that white stuff that Kelly doesn't want to talk about so you can still stay active. So when the spring comes around, your body is maintained itself. Well, anything else you want to add on fall prevention today, Kelly?
Kelly:I think that about covers it and I hope so many people all sign up for the class that we have to schedule another class. Yeah, me too.
Brooke:That would be the goal. Well, thank you, Kelly. I will hope to have you on. I think you are doing October's as well. And I believe that is, the benefits of chocolate.
Kelly:Oh, I can't wait for that one. Me too. We'll have to bring some in.
Brooke:I have one October virtual event. It is the caregiver webinar series the topic is Preparing to Care: Caregiving 101. This is important because you want to learn to identify as a caregiver so that you can receive help. This webinar will go over community resources, how to collect information for your disease of the person you're caring for, how to set up your documents, how to set boundaries, delegate caregiver tasks, and ask for help. And we'll also be talking about self care and the importance of a positive mindset. So if you want to attend this Preparing to Care: Caregiving 101 webinar. It's taking place on Friday, October 13th, and it's from 1:00 to 2:00. If you want to register, give me a call at 989-358-4616. Again, that was 989-358-4616.
Kitty Glomski:So this is Kitty Glomski and Brooke Mainville asking you to join us again next time on Let's Talk About Aging.
Carla:Let's Talk About Aging is a production of the Region 9 Area Agency on Aging, 2569 US 23 South, Alpena, Michigan 4 9 7 0 7. This Podcast was supported, in part, by grant number 90MPPG0039 from the US Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC. Podcast music provided by Groove Music, selection titled"Modern Logo," created by Vadym Kuznietsov and can be found at https://elements.envato.com/modern-logo-ZVHFBJ6