Elderly Care with Altius Healthcare
Falls in the UK
In the UK, an estimated three million falls occur each year in the older adult population, equating to one in three adults over the age of 65 experiencing a fall at some point each year. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) proposed that if each year everyone aged 65 and above, identified as being at risk of falls, was referred to physiotherapy an estimated 160,000 falls could be prevented and a staggering £250 million saved by the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for falls prevention state that there are over 400 multifactorial risk factors that are associated with falling, with risk of falling increasing in correlation with the number of risk factors. The key interventions for falls prevention supported by NICE include strength and balance training, home assessment, vision assessment and medication reviews.
How a fall can affect an Elderly Person?
Aside from the immediate injury, the effects of falling can linger on and impact on the elderly person not only physically, but psychologically and emotionally. It is quite common to suffer a loss of confidence which results in a desire to remain indoors more and walk less for fear of falling again. Although this seems like a sensible option to reduce the possibility of repeat falls, it has the opposite effect! Exercise is vitally important to build and retain muscle strength which helps prevent future falls. Equally, fresh air is essential for everyone but especially the elderly, as the vital Vitamin D we get from the sun is another key element to maintaining healthy bones and muscles.
What are the benefits of elderly rehabilitation physiotherapy?
For many elderly people, retaining their sense of independence is critical for their general well-being. Our physio for the elderly programmes are geared towards restoring and maintaining that independence by focusing on developing muscle strength to recover from injury and prevent future falls. Building confidence and improving mobility is an essential part of getting our elderly patients back on their feet safely and improving their overall quality of life.
Who benefits from our treatment?
Elderly physio rehabilitation is beneficial following falls or for those patients identified as being high risk for falls. It is also used for elderly patients who have recently been discharged from hospital and for those suffering from life-limiting pain.
How can we help?
Our physiotherapist Lucy Wood can arrange to visit you in the comfort of your own home and carry out a detailed assessment to determine your specific areas of need. With the greatest of care, our physio will assess your range of movement and test out your strength and ability to balance and move around.
From here, we can set goals with you and design a tailored programme aimed at optimising your movement and improving your quality of life. We will assist you with stretching and strengthening exercises and educate and encourage you to continue with this to improve your balance.
Client Experience
Over the past few months, Lucy has been working closely with a patient in Radcliffe to restore mobility, function and confidence following a fall she sustained in February of this year.
Sadly, Eileen’s fall resulted in her having to have surgery to fix her fractured hip, and in turn this led to a loss of her independence around her nursing home as well as generating fear that this may happen again. After completing a thorough assessment of Eileen’s ability, Lucy put in place a tailored exercise and advice programme that ensured Eileen would be able to reach her goals. Close collaboration with her nursing home and family was essential to ensure the programme was completed regularly and that Eileen had support throughout, allowing her to feel safe while she exercised.
After some hard work and lots of encouragement from her physiotherapist, Eileen has gone from being fully dependent on others for her mobility, to holidaying in Ireland with her family. At 90 years old, Eileen can now do 20 squats and has conquered the stairs, walking outside in the sunshine, and is currently planning another holiday! She is a brilliant example of how tailored physiotherapy advice alongside determination can achieve an Altius moment. She has a long way to go but we all proud of her progression and improvement to date – well done Eileen!
If you want to book in to see Lucy, either at our clinic, or at the comfort of your home, give us a call on 0161 401 1000. Just mention our Altius At Home service and we’ll do the rest!