Award-winning, nationally recognized physical therapist J Kele Murdin joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about some assessments that she does to test older people for their risk of having a fall. One in every five senior falls results in a serious injury, such as a broken bone, or head trauma, or a broken hip. Avoiding falls is paramount.
Kele says, “I want to share a few assessments that we do, because I think they are light bulb moments for people who’ve never really stopped to think about what’s putting them at risk. And as a physical therapist, that this is the kind of thing we do all the time. When I have a patient come in to be assessed for falls, these are the kinds of tests that I would do, and also what you should be able to do.
“[Sit] in a chair, stand up and sit down with without using your hands five times in less than 10 seconds. If it takes you more than 10 seconds to stand up and sit down five times, that’s indicative of weakness, or some kind of impairment in your legs that’s increasing your risk of falling. The prescription for that would be, do that. Keep working on sits and stands, because it’s such a functionally critical movement. That would be the exercise.
“I would say there’s a lot of folks that can’t stand up without their hands, and — especially as we get older — that’s fairly common. So for those folks, I would have them do their sit-stand on the arm of the couch, because it’s usually a little higher, right? It’s not 18 inches. It might be 24. Or from the edge of their bed if it’s higher. And now from a higher surface, I can do a stand without using my hands. And that’s where you would do your exercises.”
Kele specializes in fall prevention and caring for older adults. She is the founder of Murdin Therapy LLC and Group Otago. Reach her at Murdin Therapy or call 425-306-0502. Groupotago.com offers group fall prevention exercise programs and has a ton of information.
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