Age needs one voice. Now it has:
Age UK is the new force combining Age Concern England and
Help the Aged in England.
The new force combining &
Not enough is being done to prevent older people from falling, a nationwide audit has found. Over 1 million falls can be prevented - take action now to ensure the right preventative services are in place.
Results from the National Audit of Falls and Bone Health in Older People conducted by The Royal College of Physicians show that these vital services are still not available to older people who need them.
Every five hours an older person is killed by an accidental fall in the home – this is the equivalent to 1,500 people dying every year. Over 300,000 older people are so seriously injured by a fall in their home that they require hospital treatment.
Usually two or more risk factors interact to cause a fall (such as poor balance and low vision, which can cause a trip and fall going up a single step). Home or environmental risk factors play a role in about half of falls.
Age UK is launching the Make your home “falls–free” campaign that will help older people reduce their risk of falling in their own home. New campaign resources and support from Age UK HandyVan services, or local home improvement services will help older people understand the risk factors for falls and actions they can take to reduce these risks.
The campaign is kindly sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care, which is also an active promoter of our campaign’s key messages.
1. Order our new Make your home “falls-free” campaign materials
2. When possible get involved in the Make your home "falls-free" events initiated by Home Instead Senior Care in your locality.
Falls are currently the leading cause of injury and death, but with the right services, such as strength and balance training, they can be prevented.
Email your local NHS to tell them that falls in older people are not inevitable and can be prevented. Your local NHS is responsible for commissioning these vital serivces. With your help we can ensure that older people get the right services when they need them.
Email your local health service to call for a local action plan to tackle falls in later life
Age UK is campaigning to reduce the number of us who are falling.
Sometimes it's tripping over uneven paving stones, at other times it's feeling dizzy and falling because of our medication, but too many of us - up to 3.4 million people over 65 - suffer a fall each year. With the right action, up to half of these falls could be prevented.
It’s a scandal that falls prevention services are not available to all older people at the time when they need them. And where they are, these services are now at risk due to cuts.
We know that over 1 million falls can be prevented.
Not only will reducing falls help us to maintain our independence and save lives. But falls prevention services could also save the NHS £2.3 billion per year in preventing hip fractures alone.
Have you, or a member of your family fallen recently? Did you tell you GP? Were you referred to a falls prevention service? If so we’d like to hear from you.
We have launched a campaign calling on all those responsible to work together to improve access to falls prevention services and special exercise programmes.
The 'Stop Falling: Start Saving Lives and Money' campaign is calling for:
Download 'Stop Falling: Start saving money and lives' report
Set your location to see what Age UK offers in your local area.
We are calling on the government to reform the care system, to ensure that people in later life receive high quality care and support.
Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Set the appearance of this website so you can read it more easily
To see information relating to Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales set your preference below: