The reasons why someone falls can be numerous and often
a fall is not caused by a single factor.
The older you are, the more likely you are to fall and sustain
injuries. This is because older people are more likely to have
combinations of the risk factors that cause a fall. Older women are
at a higher risk.
We have a wide range of services in North Somerset to support
people to avoid or minimise the risk of falling.
One of the main ways of preventing falls is maintaining strength
and balance as you get older and a range of exercise classes are
available throughout North Somerset to promote this. The
classes are easy, sociable and fun and an excellent way of
minimising the risk of falling. We have a programme of
Staying Steady Exercise Classes for
Seniors (pdf, Nov 11, 194KB) in North
Somerset.
To obtain a list of classes visit
North Somerset NHS
website or you can contact Lin Griffiths Tel 01275 546 743.
For information about activities running across the
district
visit our
Go4Life pages or download the
Go4Life
active directory.
A dedicated service to support people at high risk of falls is
provided by the North Somerset Falls Prevention and Management
Service part of the Rapid Response and Rehabilitation Team.
This team is a joint Health and Social Care team with Staff and
management from both Social Services and Primary Care
Trust. Our
falls case study (pdf, Dec 10, 16KB)
demonstrates the role of the team.
There is also a variety of options for alarms and equipment
available to provide reassurance around risk of falls by sending an
alert to a monitoring centre in the event of a fall to enable help
to be provided. For more information see
our Telecare
equipment page.
These services and more information are available via the
Care Connect service on 01275 888 801. Care Connect
can help by undertaking an initial assessment of your risk of falls
over the telephone and provide advice about the services
appropriate to your needs.
We have also produced a
Falls fact sheet (pdf, Jan 11,
188KB) and
leaflet (pdf, Jan 11 186KB) which
provides advice about how to get up.
The following organisations also provide information and
advice which may be helpful.
