Larry Johnson is the author of seven books including a collection of his popular commentaries published in the San Antonio Express-News. In 2017 he received the Texas Governor’s Trophy for Outstanding Service advocating for persons with disabilities.
If you are a person over 65 like me, I’m going to share some rather startling and really scary statistics about being a senior. According to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, every 13 seconds an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall, and every 20 minutes, an older adult dies
from a fall. What’s more, those who fall are two to three times more likely to fall again. Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and the most common
cause of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults. They result in more than 2.5 million injuries treated in emergency departments
annually, including over 734,000 hospitalizations and more than 21,700 deaths. Impaired vision affects balance and increases the risk of a fall. One of
every five visually impaired seniors experience a fall every year.
That’s the bad news, now here’s the good news. 80% of all reported falls could have been prevented, if we eliminate the causes. What are some of the causes?
Tripping hazards or poor lighting in the home. 60% of all falls occur at home. Wearing unsafe footwear (such as flip-flops). Failing to wipe up wet spots
on the floor in the kitchen or bathroom. Dizziness from standing up too quickly. And, this is a huge one, a decrease in our muscle tone and balance from
adopting a more sedentary, less active life style.
“A Matter of Balance is a nationally recognized program developed at the Roybal Center at Boston University, designed to reduce the fear of falling and
increase activity levels among older adults. Participants learn to view falls and the fear of falling as something they can control. They set realistic goals to increase physical activity, change their environment to reduce fall risk factors and learn an exercise regimen to increase their strength and
balance. Sadly, as far as I know, due to the coronavirus pandemic there are no matter of Balance classes being offered right now, virtually or in-person. Check with your local Area Agency on Aging next spring. In the meantime, The American Council of the Blind through its Community Calls platform does have a number of Zoom sessions on Yoga and stretching and endurance exercises. These sessions are open to anyone, members and nonmembers alike. So, until a vaccine for the virus becomes available and the Matter of Balance classes resume, this might be a good alternative. To learn more about the virtual classes from ACB, contact:
Cindy Hollis at American Council of the Blind
chollis@acb.org 612-345-9036
You can join their Community Events email list for a morning email with that day’s schedule:
http://acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-community-events
Once we experience a fall we develop the fear of falling again and, as a consequence, we may limit our physical activity, which results in muscle weakness
which makes our risk of falling even greater.
I believe that fall prevention classes,and in the meantime exercise classes, for seniors who are blind or visually impaired can help avoid painful
injuries and greatly extend their lives.
Books by Larry Johnson:
Elightening and provocative!