It can become increasingly hard to do everything on your own. In instances when family and friends are unable to support you it is a good idea to seek some extra help and support. Professional external support can help reduce your risk of falling, prevent injuries, help with fall anxiety and improve your quality of life.
How to Know if I Need Help?
It can be hard to recognise when you should reach out for support. The longer you put off receiving needed support can increase your risk of falling and potential injury.
Talk to Your GP About Receiving Help if You:
- Feel unsteady on your feet when walking
- Fell due to a loss of consciousness
- Feel unsteady on your feet due to your medication
- Feel very anxious about falling
- Are unable to carry on with your normal routine due to anxiety or injury from a previous fall
- Are experiencing mobility issues
- Have had 2 or more falls in the last year
- Have found yourself on the floor but can’t remember falling
- Feel like your legs are getting weaker
- Experience foot pain when walking
You should let your GP know when you have had a fall so they are aware of how often they happen and can figure out what caused you to fall as it may be an underlying health condition you don’t know about.
Where to Get Help
If you would like to receive help with fall prevention speak to a medical professional such as your GP, nurse or physiotherapist and they will advise you on the best type of support and how to get it.
You Can Receive Support From:
- Falls clinic
- Community physiotherapist
- Community occupational therapist
- Home care service provider
- Community rehabilitation team
You can receive support free through the NHS if you meet the needs criteria. You can also receive private support such as home care where you will receive personal 1 to 1 care from a trained carer.
Here at Esteem, we provide fall prevention home care packages bespoke to your induvial needs that maintain around the clock safety. See if one of our packages could enhance your life here.
Benefits of Extra Support
Receiving professional support will reduce your risk of falling and can also provide peace of mind for you and your family.
Whilst getting help your support provider will often try to figure out why you have fallen and how to prevent a fall from happening again. To find out the cause of your fall they will talk to you about what you think the cause was and then carry out a falls risk screening. A falls risk screening helps to identify personal and environmental fall hazards, so you can then work on overcoming and removing them.
Your support provider will work with you to make your home a safer place, work on your health that may cause you to fall and as a result reduce your anxiety around falling.
