Sandra didn’t know her mother’s dementia diagnosis increased her risk of falls. That is, she didn’t — until she did.
“My mom has a walker and a cane. We’ve made sure there are no steps or obstacles to navigate at home. I really thought we were proactively preventing falls,” she recalls. “I knew her mobility wasn’t what it used to be, but I had no idea that the dementia could impact her risk of falling by so much.”
The day Sandra’s mother fell was the beginning of a recurring nightmare for the entire family. Sandra is the one who found her mom, sprawled on the back lawn in the heat of a late summer’s day. With three broken ribs, the physical damage is one thing. The emotional toll has been hard, too.
“I think my mom just got impatient and disoriented waiting for me, so she took off on her own,” says Sandra. “No cane, no walker. She just headed off into the yard and by the time we found her, she had fallen and really hurt herself. The whole incident confused her even more. I keep waking up at night picturing her there, worrying about what would have happened if we hadn’t found her quickly.”
Seniors with dementia are at a greater risk of falling
Among older adults, falls were the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations across Manitoba from 2020 to 2021. That’s consistent with other provinces, too. By the numbers, falls are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations and injury-related deaths among Canadians aged 65 or older. That risk only grows for those living with dementia:
· According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, seniors with dementia have a higher risk of falls, in long-term care and the community, compared to other seniors.
· Some 16% of hospital admissions by seniors living with dementia are related to a fall. That numbers dips to just with just 7% among other seniors.
In many cases, a fall can be the starting point for lingering health issues and complications.
“Falls are one of the key reasons families reach out to us about caregiving for seniors,” says Dennis Fancy, General Manager, TheKey Winnipeg. He leads a collaborative team of caregivers serving seniors across Winnipeg and surrounding areas.
“Falls create ripple effects that can negatively impact a senior’s quality of life,” Fancy adds. “When we start a new client relationship, we help families spot potential hazards or mobility challenges that may increase the chance of someone falling. But it’s the ongoing caregiver relationship that really unlocks lasting value in this sense.”
Through regular caregiving, Fancy’s team builds relationships with clients. This helps them understand how a person’s physical capabilities might be changing and what else might be done to prevent falls.
“By default, when we think about dementia we think about memory loss. But people living with dementia are also more likely to have problems with mobility and balance than other folks. They can be restless and agitated. They may become prone to pacing. All of this is high-risk behaviour for seniors with dementia.”
Fancy credits TheKey Winnipeg’s holistic approach to caregiving as a helpful strategy for helping to prevent falls. “We care for a person’s overall wellbeing. That spans physical, mental, cognitive and emotional aspects of health. By continuously evaluating the big picture, we can identify emerging risks and help families mitigate them for seniors and their loved ones.”
Loved ones, just like Sandra. She’s embraced a philosophy similar to Fancy’s, learning everything she can about the non-cognitive symptoms of dementia. She hopes that wider lens, and additional caregiving, will keep her mother safe going forward. “My mom no longer goes out alone. That’s the first step. Additional caregiver support is the second. I still worry about her, of course. But knowing she is alone less of the time really helps me manage the stress.”