Getting Up After a Fall

Dignity Care - What to do after a fall

No one ever intends to fall.  I hear it from my clients all the time: “I’m careful” or “I’m not going to fall” even though I think they are really trying to tell me that they are worried about falling.  However, that level of fear doesn’t always translate into taking specific measures to avoid a fall or learning what they can do to prevent falling.  Without proper prevention and safety measures, falls happen. When people fall, the response is usually, “It was an accident, I won’t fall again.”

One of my clients is the poster child for this attitude.  She has fallen multiple times, but isn’t able to relate any of her falls to the other times she has fallen.  While we’re working on that end of things, in the meantime we needed some tips on getting up after falls.

My favorite find is this video on how to get up.  The main point is to be creative about what you have within reach or crawling distance to be able to get yourself (or someone else) up off the floor. Also, make sure to evaluate yourself for possible injuries, pain, range of motion issues, and/or bleeding before trying to get up. Another thing they discuss is the importance of lifeline devices such as Life Alert. If help is immediately available at the push of a button, you won’t even need to worry about how to get up with possible injuries or finding a way to get help.

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Dignity of Risk and Caring for an Elder

Dignity Care - Dignity-of-Risk

Growing old should not mean that you lose control of your daily life and all the decisions that go along with it. Yet too often that is exactly what happens. If you are a caregiver, have you ever heard yourself saying, “you NEED to use your walker, because you might fall”, “you need to drink that water”, “let me carry that for you or you might drop it”, and/or “don’t do that, you might fall”?

Even though the person has lived with and managed their risks all their adult life, suddenly everyone else is telling them what they can and can’t do. However, this is based on what? Safety? For what end, hanging around waiting to die?

There is a wonderful concept called “The Dignity of Risk”, which acknowledges that life experiences come with risk. It explains that we must respect a person’s self-determination and right to allow them to make their own choices about which experiences are worth a risk.

the dignity of risk

I understand that there is an issue of safety here. I’m not saying ignore the risks. However, I’d like to see risks balanced more thoughtfully against the person’s preferences for how they want to live their days and what they do or do not want to do. They’ve been making decisions all their life about what they choose to do, what they want to try, what they want to eat, etc. They weighed the risks of eating fast food, of skiing, of taking a new job, and/or buying lottery tickets. They deserve our respect and support in continuing to make their choices.

As caregivers, I’d encourage us to allow the elders we work with, or are related to, to live their lives as independently and freely as possible. Listen to their priorities and concerns. Help them think through their decisions. Yes, there is that pesky risk factor, but how does it weigh against the dignity of their life and the loss of life experiences? They have the right to choose their risks. Let’s support them in that.

Act FAST For A Stroke

Dignity Care - Stroke Reactions

Act FAST For a Stroke!  Stroke is an emergency and a brain attack. Learn how to act FAST and call 911 at the first sign of stroke.

Recognizing stroke symptoms can be easy if you remember to think FAST. Use FAST to remember the warning signs:

F= Face            Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

A= Arms           Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S= Speech        Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Does the speech sound slurred or strange?

T= Time            If you observe any of these signs, it’s time to call 911

May is Stroke Awareness Month.  The National Stroke Association has easy ways for you to learn more about stroke before it happens to you or someone else.

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