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The Benefits of Occupational Therapy for Fall Prevention

5 tips on finding the right homecare provider
The Benefits of Occupational Therapy for Fall Prevention

The Benefits of Occupational Therapy for Fall Prevention

Falls can be a significant health hazard for aging adults and even younger individuals with a disability or with medical needs. Occupational therapy interventions have been proven to reduce the frequency of falls and improve overall safety by teaching strategies that build physical and cognitive capabilities, enabling individuals to live more independently at home. The benefits of occupational therapy for fall prevention are numerous and are vital in keeping your loved one safe at home.

Did You Know?

Well-designed exercise programmes can reduce the rate of falls by 23 percent and reduce the number of people experiencing one or more falls by 15 percent.

The Benefits of Occupational Therapy for Fall Prevention

Comprehensive assessment

Occupational therapists conduct comprehensive assessments to identify an individual’s specific fall risk factors. They evaluate physical abilities, balance, coordination, sensory functions, cognitive skills, and the home environment to determine the areas that require intervention. Comprehensive assessment plays a crucial role in determining the specific needs and goals of individuals. Some key aspects of the comprehensive assessment process are:

  • Medical History: checking medical history to identify any underlying issues that could contribute to falls.
  • Functional Assessment: evaluate an individual’s functional abilities and limitations related to activities of daily living such as dressing and bathing.
  • Balance and Mobility Assessment: evaluation of an individual’s balance, coordination, and ability to perform functional movements safely.
  • Environmental Assessment: assessment of factors that may contribute to falls, such as poor lighting, uneven surfaces, clutter, or inadequate support systems.

Enhancing strength and balance

Occupational therapists use exercises and activities to improve an individual’s strength, balance, and coordination. They focus on improving muscle strength, flexibility, and postural control to enhance overall stability and reduce the risk of falls. The key aspects of this process are:

  • Balance Training Exercises: improve an individual’s ability to maintain equilibrium during static (stationary) and dynamic (moving) activities. These can involve weight shifting, standing on unstable surfaces, or performing activities that challenge balance.
  • Coordination Activities: various exercises and games that target hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination (using both sides of the body simultaneously), and fine motor coordination.
  • Home Exercise Programs: exercises and activities that can be performed independently at home to maintain and further develop strength and balance.

Home modifications:

Occupational therapists assess the individual’s home environment and recommend modifications to reduce fall hazards. This may include rearranging furniture, removing obstacles, improving lighting, installing grab bars and handrails, and making the bathroom safer. These modifications create a safer living space and reduce the risk of falls. This process includes:

  • Removing Hazards: addresses potential hazards within the home that can contribute to falls. This may involve removing obstacles such as clutter, loose rugs, or electrical cords that can be tripping hazards.
  • Improving Lighting: assess the lighting conditions in the home and recommend improvements. This may include adding additional light fixtures, or installing motion sensor lights to ensure lighting in key areas, such as hallways, staircases, and bathrooms.
  • Modifying Stairs: this may involve adding handrails on both sides of the staircase and ensuring proper handrail height and grip.
  • Assessing Assistive Devices: evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of assistive devices such as canes, walkers, or wheelchairs within the home environment. They ensure that these devices are properly adjusted, well-maintained, and suitable for the individual’s needs.

Isaac Care’s Assistive Services:

• We provide the right care by providing the tools and support people need to access high quality care from the comfort of their own homes.
• The Isaac fall alarm is connected to our free family caring app, Isaac Care.
• The Isaac Care app is specifically designed around “circles of care”, groups of people involved in the persons’ care. Each circle of care is kept up to date with instant in-app notifications.
• The app sends out an instant notification of any fall/SOS alert to the relevant circle of care, while the fall alarm itself initiates a phone call to the designated emergency contact.
• It allows the right care to be delivered in the right place, at the right time, providing invaluable peace of mind.

Occupational therapy can be an incredibly useful tool to target fall prevention. It is an effective and creative way to help those who are most at risk of injuries from falls. Investing in occupational therapy is a worthwhile measure that can lead to better health outcomes for those who have an increased risk of falling. Taking action using the many different approaches above can go a long way in keeping everyone safe, secure, and as independent as possible.

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Our dedicated team are on hand to assist you in any way. Contact us on (042) 936 8391 or fill in your details in the contact form and one of our team will be in touch.

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How to Talk to Your Loved One About Falls

5 tips on finding the right homecare provider
Care worker and elderly woman

How to Talk to Your Loved One About Falls

Fall prevention is an important topic for elderly individuals and their family members. As our loved ones age, they are more prone to them for many different reasons. The consequences of this can be severe and debilitating, and injuries can include broken bones, head injuries, and loss of independence. They can also lead to a sense of fear and a depletion of confidence, which can affect their daily activities and overall quality of life. This is why it is important to know how to talk to your loved one about falls.

They can occur for a number of different reasons, such as:

  • Health factors such as weak muscles and balance and stability issues.
  • Medication with drowsy side effects.
  • Visual impairment.
  • Environmental factors such as uneven carpets or rugs.
  • Poor footwear.
  • Bad lighting.
Elderly woman and young nurse and How to Talk to Your Loved One About Falls

It is important to have this conversation early and not wait until something serious occurs. It is better to take proactive measures. According to statistics, these kinds of accidents are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries among older adults. According to the HSE, it is estimated that one in every three people over the age of 65 years and one in two people over the age of 80 years, fall every year.

They can lead to serious injury and it is important that family members speak to their loved one about how they can be prevented and the potential risks associated with them. It can be difficult to have this conversation, however, at Isaac Care, we want to provide you with some practical strategies on how you can start an open conversation about it with your elderly loved one.

1. Understand and empathise with your loved one

Placing yourself in the shoes of your elderly loved one can help you empathise with their situation and how difficult it may be for them to speak openly about their susceptibility to these kinds of accidents. Being aware of the importance of using an empathetic tone when broaching the subject is key. Having a frank but caring discussion can help ensure that they understand why you are raising this issue.

Respect their wishes and make sure your loved one feels comfortable discussing their concerns and what would work best around their life situation. Showing care and concern while being honest and direct will help create an open dialogue between you and your loved one as you both work towards the same goal.

Make sure to speak to them in the following ways:

  • Show your concern.
  • Be honest and direct when needed.
  • Always remain calm.
  • Allow them to ask questions and raise any concerns.
  • Portray empathy towards their situation.

2. Emphasise the importance of preventative measures

Emphasising the importance of prevention is essential. By displaying certain statistics, like the ones in this blog, your elderly loved one will know just how serious this subject matter is. Family members can also demonstrate their willingness to help and can play a vital role in making sure the home is safe by monitoring changes in their physical and/or mental health.

Check lists can be created which allows them to tick off items and ensure that the house is safe each day. Have any spills been wiped up? Are any rugs out of place? Are all the lights plugged in in preparation for night time? Is their walker or crutch on hand in case they need to go to the bathroom in a hurry? All of these questions are vital and can be added to a post-it note and placed somewhere where they can see it each day, such as the refrigerator.

Did You Know?

Every year 10% of older people need
treatment following an injury. Falls cause
75% of these injuries.

3. Get them involved in prevention strategies

It is important to sit down with your loved one and discuss with them some strategies to put in place. Setting realistic goals with them in their own environment can be very beneficial. By setting realistic goals, you are making sure any prevention strategies will actually be carried out in the correct way. If it is too difficult for them, it should not be part of the strategy.

An example of a difficult goal is to tell them to avoid reaching up to high shelves, even though their plates and cups are placed here. A realistic goal would be to move them into a lower place so they are easily reached and therefore any accidents are avoided.

Prevention Strategies:

1. Clean up any liquid spills immediately.
2. Make sure areas are well lit with proper lighting.
3. Reduce any medication that may cause drowsiness.
4. Install and advise them to use safety grab bars and other assistive devices around the house, especially in the bathroom.

Elderly care at home and How to Talk to Your Loved One About Falls

The Isaac Fall Alarm

This alarm is here to alert family members and friends if a fall occurs. It is a smart, easy to use, personal alarm which offers reassurance that your loved one can instantly access help whenever they need it.


It is ideal for people of all ages and their family members who are concerned about their wellbeing and safety both at home and while out and about.

Find Out More

If you are concerned your loved one is at risk, talking to them and making it clear that you want them to remain safe is important. It is also essential to take all of the necessary steps for prevention and with the right information, families can help their loved ones live safely and independently in their own homes as they age.

Get in Touch

Our dedicated team are on hand to assist you in any way. Contact us on (042) 936 8391 or fill in your details in the contact form and one of our team will be in touch.

Contact Us

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Testimonials

Client Testimonial: Debbie Curtis

“The peace of mind is the big thing!”

Read what Debbie, a Primary Carer has to say after using the Isaac Pendant.

Learn more about the Isaac Pendant’s Features

Client Testimonial – Debbie Curtis, Primary Carer

What piqued your interest in the Isaac Pendant? 

I was interested in the pendant from a security point of view and for peace of mind. My mother and father-in-law are both in their 70’s and live quite rural, which is quite a distance away from family members.

What feature of the Isaac Pendant do you value the most? 

The best and quickest feature is being able to speak to her quickly, as opposed to traditional fall alarms that just call you.

When my mother-in-law had been feeling unwell, I could reassure her through the pendant that we were on our way and someone would be with her soon. Thankfully she was fine but just to know that she was ok, lucid and able to speak to me was a big thing.

** Most Traditional Fall Alarms are static alarms and do not allow for two-way communication, a call centre will call should the alarm go off.

“The best and quickest feature is being able to speak to her quickly, as opposed to traditional fall alarms that just call you.”

Debbie Curtis

Primary Carer

What’s the biggest change you’ve found since you started using the Pendant?

You don’t worry about them so much because you know they are ok.

My farther in law loves to do some farming and their grounds are quite large. You know that if something happens to them outside of the house they can still be able to quickly make contact with you and you can locate them via the Pendant and the Family care App if they weren’t in the house.

“You know that if something happens to them outside of the house they can still be able to quickly make contact with you and you can locate them .”

Debbie Curtis

Primary Carer

What’s most valuable to yourself and your family about using the Pendant? 

The peace of mind is the big thing! Since having it, my mother-in-law had been feeling unwell and it was great she has been able to call me through the pendant

Star Rating 

Five Stars!

Call us today for a free consultation.

Begin your journey to peace of mind.

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Testimonials

Client Testimonial: Padraig O’Hora

“It’s very fast at connecting”

Read what Padraig, an Isaac Pendant User has to say after using the Isaac Pendant.

Learn more about the Isaac Pendant’s Features

Client Testimonial – Padraig O’Hora, Primary Carer

What piqued your interest in the Isaac Pendant? 

The person I’m caring for has a disability, she needs support and needs to be able to call on that support if an emergency arises. She lives on her own and has a disability, as a family we want to support her independence and make sure she has the support she needs. This is absolutely the kind of device we have been looking for.

“Within seconds I’m speaking directly to her through the pendant as if I was talking to her through a phone”

Padraig O’Hora

Primary Carer

What feature of the Isaac Pendant do you value the most? 

It’s the very fact that she can press a button and within seconds I’m speaking directly to her through the pendant as if I was talking to her through a phone, it’s a really strong feature.   

What’s the biggest change you’ve found since you started using the Pendant? 

I have confidence in the fact that if something happened, she has the ability to immediately contact me and to alert me to the fact she’s in trouble. It’s confidence inspiring to see that the Isaac Pendant two-way communication system does work, that’s the biggest thing for us.

“It’s confidence inspiring to see that the Isaac Pendant two-way communication system does work, that’s the biggest thing for us.”

Padraig O’Hora

Primary Carer

Star Rating 

Ah sure It couldn’t be anything less, because it does everything I would want it to do it would have to be 5 stars.  

Call us today for a free consultation.

Begin your journey to peace of mind.

Take me there

Read more of our client testimonials

Testimonials

Client Testimonial: Mary Matthews

“It’s very fast at connecting”

Read what Mary, an Isaac Pendant User has to say after using the Isaac Pendant.

Learn more about the Isaac Pendant’s Features

Client Testimonial – Mary Matthews, Isaac Pendant User

What peaked your interest in the Isaac Pendant? 

We have one of the traditional landline-based fall alarms out in the hall but it’s not very much good to me. So, when I heard that the pendant can be used outside the house, I thought I’d give that one a go.

*The Isaac Pendant uses a Sim-Card, like a mobile phone, so it can work anywhere in the world.

“I’m quite active and like being out and about so it’s great that it works outside of the house!”

Mary Matthews

Isaac pendant user

What feature of the Isaac Pendant do you value the most? 

Oh, being able to bring it with me, I’m quite active and like being out and about so it’s great that it works outside of the house! At the moment I’m alone in the house so every night I have it up in the bedroom with me, it’s very handy, very handy if anything happens.  

Is there anything more comfortable or confident doing now with the Pendant? 

I bring my mobile phone everywhere with me, but the pendant is instant. If anything happens, I can just press the button and be instantly connected to my two daughters. It’s very fast at connecting.

**The Isaac Pendant works through the push of a button and by detecting a fall, allowing users who may be unable to press the button to send alerts and receive care.

“It’s very handy because it can alarm by itself or by the push of a button.”

Mary Matthews

Isaac Pendant User

Star Rating 

5 out of 5, It’s very handy because it can alarm by itself or by the push of a button.

Call us today for a free consultation.

Begin your journey to peace of mind.

Take me there

Read more of our client testimonials

Testimonials

Client Testimonial: Catherine Rogers

“I’d give it a five-star rating”

Read what Catherine, a Primary Carer has to say after using the Isaac Pendant.

Learn more about the Isaac Pendant’s Features

Client Testimonial – Catherine Rogers, Primary Carer

What peaked your interest in the Isaac Pendant? 

My mother is 80 and in very good health normally, but at Christmas she had a turn and ended up collapsing on the ground, nobody was around. She lives on her own and it was a very frightening experience, we started to worry, what if something worse did happen?

She recovered completely but that’s what started us thinking about getting a fall alarm.

“I’m not particularly tech savvy and I find it really easy to use. I love the zones and being able to see where she is on the map.”

Catherine Rogers

Primary carer

What feature of the Isaac Pendant do you value the most? 

My mother is very active and walks everywhere. Before, I was only aware of fall alarms that work inside houses. The fact that this is a mobile fall alarm, and I can set GPS zones is very valuable to me.

Thankfully she hasn’t had to use the pendant, she’s healthy, she hasn’t had any falls or anything, so she hasn’t had to press the pendant looking for assistance. Knowing that it’s there and being able to see that she’s keeping her normal routine is the most valuable thing to us at the minute.

What’s the biggest change you’ve found since you started using the Isaac Pendant? 

The pendant is very convenient, I can check if she’s ok without having to ring her. That’s the real change, you find you are depending on it a bit more than before.

“I‘m really delighted with it, it’s really providential”

Catherine Rogers

Primary carer

Star Rating 

I’d give it a five-star rating, I’m really delighted with it, I’m not particularly tech savvy and I find it really easy to use. I love the zones and being able to see where she is on the map.

Call us today for a free consultation.

Begin your journey to peace of mind.

Take me there

Read more of our client testimonials