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Seniors in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario require hospitalization or emergency treatment for falls far more often than those in the rest of Ontario, says the Champlain Local Health Integration Network.
Between April and June 2014, the Champlain LHIN had the highest fall-related hospitalization rate for seniors in the province, and the second-highest rate of fall-related visits to emergency departments, according to a recent presentation to the LHIN’s board.
In 2013, 2,765 seniors in the Champlain LHIN were admitted to hospital after falling, On average, they were hospitalized for 15 days, costing the health care system $17.2 million.
The problem has captured the attention of the Champlain LHIN, which is in the process of rolling out key elements of a falls prevention strategy it hopes will reduce those costs by 10 per cent — about $1.7 million.
“It’s an incredibly important issue,” CEO Chantal Leclerc said. “It has a huge impact on older people’s qualify of life and their ability to remain engaged in their communities.”
Seniors who fall often develop a fear of falling, which causes them to reduce their activities, Leclerc said.
“They’re not as mobile. They don’t go out for walks. They become more socially isolated. They get into this quick downward spiral where their fear of falling makes them more at risk of actually falling.”
Leclerc said the LHIN doesn’t know why the fall problem is worse in this region than elsewhere.
“Certainly we’ve got bad weather, but so do they up north and in other parts of the province. It’s something we’re looking into to try to better understand if there’s something unique in our region.”
In Canada, one in three seniors has a fall in any given year, and 25 per cent of those suffer injuries. Falls cause more than 90 per cent of all hip fractures among seniors. Twenty per cent die within a year.
Falls are responsible for 40 per cent of all seniors’ admissions to long-term care homes. Nationally, they account for nearly one-third of all injury costs — a total of $6.2 billion annually.
The Champlain LHIN began working with other Ontario LHINs and health units to develop an integrated falls prevention program in 2011. From that, a regional strategy has evolved.
One goal is for all adults 65 and older to be screened for falls on an annual basis. “Most people go in for an annual physical,” Leclerc said. “This should be part of it.”
A key tool is an “evidence-based algorithm” to help doctors screen people who are at high risk of falling. It was field tested and refined over the past year or so and is now being distributed widely to physicians.
Though the tool is mostly paper-based at present, Leclerc hopes it will eventually be integrated into doctors’ electronic health records to automatically screen patients for their risk of falls and alert doctors if action is required.
The LHIN has also developed a checklist for seniors who are living independently that helps them identify where they might have risks and points them towards some strategies.
“We really want seniors to do whatever they can to identify if they’re at risk of falls and take steps before they get into that situation where they have a fear of falling,” Leclerc said.
“We know we don’t be able to prevent every single fall, but we’d like to minimize it to the degree that we’re able to.”
The health sector can’t resolve the problem on its own, she stressed. “We do need other sectors to be paying attention as well.”
For example, sidewalks need to be safe, traffic lights need to stay green long enough for people to cross without rushing and businesses need to have appropriate lighting.
More information is available at the Regional Geriatric Program of Eastern Ontario’s website, www.stopfalls.ca.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
Between April and June 2014, the Champlain LHIN had the highest fall-related hospitalization rate for seniors in the province, and the second-highest rate of fall-related visits to emergency departments, according to a recent presentation to the LHIN’s board.
In 2013, 2,765 seniors in the Champlain LHIN were admitted to hospital after falling, On average, they were hospitalized for 15 days, costing the health care system $17.2 million.
The problem has captured the attention of the Champlain LHIN, which is in the process of rolling out key elements of a falls prevention strategy it hopes will reduce those costs by 10 per cent — about $1.7 million.
“It’s an incredibly important issue,” CEO Chantal Leclerc said. “It has a huge impact on older people’s qualify of life and their ability to remain engaged in their communities.”
Seniors who fall often develop a fear of falling, which causes them to reduce their activities, Leclerc said.
“They’re not as mobile. They don’t go out for walks. They become more socially isolated. They get into this quick downward spiral where their fear of falling makes them more at risk of actually falling.”
Leclerc said the LHIN doesn’t know why the fall problem is worse in this region than elsewhere.
“Certainly we’ve got bad weather, but so do they up north and in other parts of the province. It’s something we’re looking into to try to better understand if there’s something unique in our region.”
In Canada, one in three seniors has a fall in any given year, and 25 per cent of those suffer injuries. Falls cause more than 90 per cent of all hip fractures among seniors. Twenty per cent die within a year.
Falls are responsible for 40 per cent of all seniors’ admissions to long-term care homes. Nationally, they account for nearly one-third of all injury costs — a total of $6.2 billion annually.
The Champlain LHIN began working with other Ontario LHINs and health units to develop an integrated falls prevention program in 2011. From that, a regional strategy has evolved.
One goal is for all adults 65 and older to be screened for falls on an annual basis. “Most people go in for an annual physical,” Leclerc said. “This should be part of it.”
A key tool is an “evidence-based algorithm” to help doctors screen people who are at high risk of falling. It was field tested and refined over the past year or so and is now being distributed widely to physicians.
Though the tool is mostly paper-based at present, Leclerc hopes it will eventually be integrated into doctors’ electronic health records to automatically screen patients for their risk of falls and alert doctors if action is required.
The LHIN has also developed a checklist for seniors who are living independently that helps them identify where they might have risks and points them towards some strategies.
“We really want seniors to do whatever they can to identify if they’re at risk of falls and take steps before they get into that situation where they have a fear of falling,” Leclerc said.
“We know we don’t be able to prevent every single fall, but we’d like to minimize it to the degree that we’re able to.”
The health sector can’t resolve the problem on its own, she stressed. “We do need other sectors to be paying attention as well.”
For example, sidewalks need to be safe, traffic lights need to stay green long enough for people to cross without rushing and businesses need to have appropriate lighting.
More information is available at the Regional Geriatric Program of Eastern Ontario’s website, www.stopfalls.ca.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
