Falls In Your Home
Preventing Falls on Stairs
The stairs in your home—the ones you climb up and down every day—can be dangerous. A large portion of Canadians who visit hospitals after a fall on or from stairs or steps in their homes are seniors (men and women 65 years or older). When seniors fall, the consequences can be severe and long-lasting. Most of the falls on or from stairs can be prevented. Prevention starts by keeping in mind that there are risks when people use stairs. Good planning and simple strategies can help everyone prevent falls and injuries.
Here are some of the ways you can reduce the risk of falling on or from stairs.
Where can you fall?
You can fall anywhere in your house where there are stairs, including the entry stairs, stairs leading to another floor, the back doorstep or steps leading to another room. Falls resulting in serious injuries can occur even with a single step.
Why do people fall?
Professionals who study why people fall on or from stairs say health, environmental and behavioural reasons are contributing factors. Health factors include eyesight problems, frailty, drowsiness, loss of balance and an inactive lifestyle.
Environmental factors include poor design, construction and maintenance of stairs; nonexistent or dysfunctional handrails; poor lighting; and other visual features of stairs such as tread surfaces. Behavioural factors include lack of concentration, carrying something while using stairs, unsuitable footwear, unfamiliarity with the stairs (although most stair-related injuries occur on stairs with which the fall victim is familiar) and decisions whether or not—and how—to modify or maintain the stairway environment.
What are the consequences of falling on steps or stairs?
Falls on stairs can be a major threat to health, independence and confidence. The physical consequences can be serious, including soft-tissue damage and broken bones— especially hips. Other serious consequences—particularly for older people—can be psychological effects, such as lowered confidence and a loss of a feeling of safety, which might further reduce healthful mobility and activity. Many people never fully recover from the consequences of a fall.
Should you stop using stairs?
Not usually. Your doctor can best advise you if you have special health problems that might limit or even prevent you from using stairs.
However, it does mean always being aware that stairs can be risky and knowing how to reduce the risks.
There can be health benefits to using stairs. According to Health Canada’s Stairway to Health Program1, activities like climbing stairs significantly contribute to the 30 minutes of physical activity we all need every day. Stair climbing increases leg power and may be important in helping elderly people reduce the risk of injury from falls.
What can you do to overcome problems with stairs?
There are several ways to reduce the health, environmental and behavioural risks of stairs.
If you feel you have problems related to health factors, such as difficulty going up or down stairs, you should consult an occupational therapist. An occupational therapist can advise you on the most appropriate changes to your home, your behaviour, or both, to meet your own needs.
If, following this, you continue to feel you have problems, consult your family doctor.
If you have problems related to health factors which impede you from using stairs, consider the following three options:
- Installing an elevator or stair lift.
- Creating a bedroom, bathroom and laundry room on the ground floor (if not already available) so that you can carry out all your daily activities without having to use stairs.
- Moving to a one-floor house or apartment.
For environmental and behavioural factors, there are many ways to make stairways in your home safer. Check out the posts coming up where we share some ideas to help you improve your safety by making the stairway as safe as possible (modifying the stairway environment) and by modifying the manner in which you use the stairs (modifying your behaviour). Talk about these ideas with your family members and care providers, and determine which are best for your home, your budget and the way you live.
Contact your REALTOR at Coldwell Banker Vantage Realty for more tips and advice on your safety in your home.
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