Back on Their Feet

They are prisoners of their fears.

They sit for hours upon hours in a favorite spot in their homes, maybe in front of the TV, and atrophy. It’s happening to countless elderly throughout Orange County.

What they fear is falling. And sadly, the greater the fear, the greater the likelihood of those fears coming true.

Falling is a major issue among the elderly, especially those into their 80s and 90s. Falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults and the leading cause of death of those older than 85, says the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

But a group at Cal State Fullerton is devoted to helping such seniors get over their fear of falling, with a two-pronged approach: Show them how better health, and a healthier home environment, can reduce such risks.

“When an older person falls, I’ve never found a single time that it was caused by just one thing,” said Dr. Debra J. Rose, co-director of the university’s Center for Successful Aging. “It’s usually a combination of small things that put them at risk.”

Someone with arthritis, for example, might also have foot numbness, or an inner-ear imbalance. Some might even be using the wrong type of cane or walker.

The center’s balance and mobility exercise classes, provided free at community halls throughout the county, target each senior’s special needs through a detailed assessment.

“Sometimes we’ll discover that a person is simply taking too much medication that’s causing them dizziness,” Rose said. “Or we’ll learn they trip because foot numbness prevents the right perception of where the floor is.”

The classes also concentrate on what Rose and co-director C. Dr. Jessie Jones call “ADLs”--activities of daily living. Participants practice rising from a chair without using their hands, to improve balance. Or stair-climbing. Or weight-shifting, for daily kitchen tasks.

Rose and Jones also recommend a series of home-improvement tips for seniors put out by the St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton. Just a few:

* Keep a steady, medium night light in the bedroom. Many falls come because your eyes don’t adjust to a sudden change of light when you get up in the middle of the night, such as going from a bright bedroom to a dark hallway. Or from a dark bedroom to a well-lit bathroom.

* Place a sturdy wrought-iron bench in the garden. Many senior gardeners who fall find it too difficult to push against the soft soil to get up. But they’ve been able to crawl to a bench and become mobile again.

* Install bathtub or shower handrails. Many seniors live with their children, who don’t need them for themselves, so they don’t think of them. (Don’t ever use a towel or washcloth rack as a handrail.)

* Make sure carpeting on stairs isn’t loose or frayed. One good tip: Paint the edges of the stairs white to give seniors better depth perception of where to place their feet.

* Avoid geometric patterns for floor carpeting. They can cause dizziness.

* Double-check to make sure commonly used paths have no obstructions. (For example, don’t stack newspapers on a floor; they slide off the pile too often.)

* Stand up slowly when rising from bed. Wait until your circulation adjusts to an upright position.

Maybe most of us take our mobility for granted. Not all seniors can. Rose and Jones talk about many who won’t go to a mall simply because the business of so many shoppers makes it difficult for them to concentrate on their balance.

Adeline Chudler of La Habra said she limited going places because she was petrified of stepping off a curb. But she recently took Cal State Fullerton’s balance and mobility class at the La Habra Community Center. Chudler estimates her mobility has improved 60%; at least curbs no longer intimidate her.

The center’s early research for these community exercise classes show overall a 22% reduction in risks for those at high risk to fall. Shelly Hellen, director of senior services at the Cypress Senior Center, says many participants are touting success stories:

“One gentlemen in a wheelchair with little walking ability told us that on visits to his son’s home, it always took him 30 minutes just to walk up the stairs to the bedroom. After this class, he says that same set of steps only takes 15 minutes. That still seems like a long time to most of us. To him it was a miracle.”