Enliven leads community in fall prevention programme

Enliven leads community in fall prevention programme

Enliven is proud to be appointed East Coast’s lead agency for a new falls minimisation initiative, ‘Community Strength and Balance’, driven by ACC, the Ministry of Health and the Health Quality and Safety Commission (HQSC).

As lead agency, Enliven will be taking referrals for Approved Community Strength & Balance Classes, supporting exercise providers to maintain quality classes and increasing the number of Strength and Balance classes available.

The aim of the initiative is to reduce incidents of falls and fractures and support older people, who are at risk of falling or aged 65 and over, to live stronger for longer in their own homes, on their own terms.

“Falling over is not a ‘normal’ part of the ageing process,” Enliven Community Services Manager, Rebekah Charlton, says.

“Older people want to control if and when it’s time to move to residential care. We don’t want a ‘fall’ to take that choice away from them.

The Live Stronger for Longer brand represents the collaborative effort from Hawke’s Bay District Health Board (HBDHB), community exercise providers, carers and health professionals to reduce the number and severity of falls in our region.

The District Health Board will be holding a public Bone Health Hui on Wednesday, 27 September, from 3.30pm - 4.30pm for people with an interest in managing life with Arthritis.

Dawn Birrell, Orthotics and Physiotherapy team leader, said the district health board was pleased to be working alongside ACC with this new initiative.

“As the population ages, health providers need to adapt and find new models to support people, to stay safe in their own homes.”

The Bone Health Hui launches the collaboration of ACC, HBDHB and HQSC, who have worked collaboratively to reduce the impact of osteoporosis as well as hosting programmes targeted to reduce falls and fall related injuries. The in-home and community based strength and balance programmes, because of these partnerships, will now be more widely available in Hawke’s Bay.

The clinical aspect supports the work Enliven is facilitating in the community. Only community providers who meet nationally approved evidence-based criteria for group strength and balance will be eligible to use the quality mark.

“Look for the ‘tick’ when selecting a class to know that it meets national agreed standards,” Rebekah says.

If you are an exercise provider and interested in becoming an approved Strength and Balance provider or wish to access an approved class please contact Rebekah on 0800 4 Enliven for more information.

KEY STATISTICS:

People over 65, have a 1 in 3 chance of falling, and between 10% and 20% of these falls result in an injury such as a hip fracture, hospitalisation or death

For people aged 80 and over, the risk of falling increases to 1 in 2

Falls are the most common and costly cause of injury in older people

Falls cause around 40% of ACC claims for people aged between 65 and 69, and around 60% of claims for those aged over 85

Severity of fall-related injury increases with age – an 80-year-old has 15 times the risk of a hip fracture compared with a 65-year-old

A hip fracture for someone aged 80 or over is associated with a 33% chance of entering residential care, and a 20% chance of dying within 12 months

ENDS

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