When you have a parent who has mobility issues, you make take extra care when trying to find a place for him or her to live once he or she is no longer able to manage independently. When trying to find an Ohio nursing home, you may want to ask about the efforts each one makes when it comes to protecting its residents from falls.
According to Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, the typical, 100-bed American nursing home reports between about 100 and 200 resident falls every year. Altogether, about 1,800 American nursing home residents die from falls each year. While these numbers are alarming, so, too, is the fact that they refer only to the number of falls reported, meaning there may well be many more that occur that staff members never report.
Nursing home resident fall statistics
Also concerning is the fact that your parent is more likely to suffer a fall in a nursing home than he or she would be at home alone or living alongside loved ones. Research shows that adults 65 and older who live in nursing homes are actually four times as likely to succumb to fall-related injuries than adults 65 and older living elsewhere.
Also, about three-quarters of today’s nursing home residents fall at least once a year, which is more than twice the fall rate experienced by older adults living in other settings.
Fall-related injuries and repercussions
Research shows that somewhere between 10% and 20% of nursing home falls lead to serious injuries. Even when they do not cause serious injuries, they may lead to isolation, loneliness and further loss of function.
Nursing home residents often have risk factors that make them more likely to fall. However, nursing homes also have a duty to prevent falls by eliminating environmental hazards and making sure those who lack mobility receive adequate care.
