words for evils
And Occupational therapist is a health professional who works with people who have difficulty carrying out their daily activities due to a disability. With the elderly, to prevent falls, he can accompany them in the development of their home and advise on technical aids adapted to their mobility.
The technical aids group together all the equipment and devices designed to prevent or compensate for a limitation of activity for the elderly. This goes from the cane to the wheelchair through the remote alarm or the medical bed.
The tele-assistance, more commonly known as “tele alarm”, is a service that puts an elderly person in contact with a remote operator in the event of a problem at home, particularly in the event of a fall and the impossibility of getting up alone. The device is in the form of a watch or medallion with a button to press when needed.
What are the causes of falls?
The causes of falls are multiple and intricate, and it is not possible to be exhaustive on this subject. There are causes related to the person’s state of health, lifestyle or environment.
Falls can, for example, be due to balance disorders, orthostatic hypotension, joint disorders, chronic diseases, taking certain medications or even muscle weakness. They can be linked to lifestyle, alcohol, risk-taking or insufficient nutrition causing undernutrition can, among other things, cause falls. Orthostatic hypotension is a common cause of falls. It is a pathology that is characterized by a significant drop in blood pressure when going from sitting (or lying down) to standing. It can cause a feeling of weakness, even discomfort and thus a fall.
In terms of the environment, the risk of falling is increased in the case of housing containing hazards: cluttered rooms, carpets that are not firmly fixed to the floor or even insufficient lighting in circulation areas. Finally, unsuitable shoes can increase the risk of falling.
How to identify situations at risk of falls?
Among the situations with a major risk of falls, mention may be made of physical inactivity, fear of falling, impaired vision and/or hearing and poorly adapted housing. But the risk situations are in fact much more numerous, and include in particular all the causes of falls mentioned above, with an increased risk in the event of accumulation. They can also be intricate and a specialized geriatric consultation with gait analysis may be necessary to make the diagnosis.
What are the complications of falls?
A fall can have serious consequences. First, there are the traumatic consequences. A fall can cause fractures, in particular at the level of the neck of the femur and the wrist and a cranial traumatism responsible for a cerebral hemorrhage.
Then there are the complications of being on the ground for a long time when the person cannot get up on their own or call for help. The risk is then “rhabdomyolysis”, a rapid wasting of the muscles linked to compression by the ground, sometimes causing a serious deterioration in the function of the kidney.
Staying on the ground for a long time can also cause dehydration due to the inability to hydrate, a lung infection or even one or more bedsores, especially in the most fragile elderly people. The fall can also create a psychological trauma, disrupting the automatisms of walking and balance and reducing autonomy and physical activities for fear of falling once more. This is called post-fall syndrome. It is a common and serious but often overlooked complication of falls.
Post-fall syndrome, also called motor disadaptation syndrome, is a serious and common consequence of falls. Of psychological origin, linked to the trauma of having fallen, it is characterized by a disturbance of the automatisms of walking and balance. If it is not taken care of quickly, it gives rise to serious physical, psychological and social complications.
