Elderly Fall Risks: How Core Strength Plays a Role
Welcome to the next instalment of our elderly fall risks mini-series. Today, we want to show you why core strength matters and how to improve it.
How Poor Core Strength Increases Elderly Fall Risks
It’s crucial to maintain good posture and balance as we move and to be able to auto-correct after slipping or misstepping. Core strength (or lumbar support), which refers to our torso muscle mass (the muscles stabilising our hips and shoulders: the stomach, back, hip, pelvic, and floor muscles), is vital to this ability.
As we age, maintaining muscle mass becomes more difficult. For many, this may be due to a general slowing down, becoming less mobile, or even poor health and Lumbar Spondylosis (age-related change of the vertebrae and discs of the spine (Ito T et al., 2021)). For others with cognitive disease, it may be because we start to forget how to exercise or even walk. This is where we begin to see “body deconditioning”, the loss of core strength.
TheNHS reports that 1 in 3 adults aged 65+ will suffer at least one fall each year, sometimes leading to fractures and prolonged hospital stays. While there are no figures on how many of these falls are directly attributed to body deconditioning, it is generally considered one of the leading causes of senior falls and why our loved ones cannot get back up on their own so easily.
Hospital stays also affect body deconditioning, leading to further falls, especially where there is a flagged high-risk case of hospital‐associated deconditioning (HAD) (Chen Y et al., 2022).
Considering what we know, it is safe to assume that our loved ones need extra help. Read on, and we’ll discuss some tips for improving core strength.
Tips for Improving Core Strength Among Seniors
- Introducing Core Stability Exercises and Seated Exercise: Studies have shown that core stability exercises can reduce fall risks among seniors by increasing muscle mass, balance, and flexibility and reducing the fear of falling, which hinders the desire to be mobile (Ko DS et al.,2014). Introducing these slowly and in a considered way will improve core strength over time.
- Introducing Yoga or Pilates: Both are geared towards improving flexibility and balance through core strength. They are also thought to improve mood, which is excellent for those experiencing low mood or a loss of social connection. We have somelocal exercise groups for you here.
- Improving Nutrition and Hydration: Good nutrition and hydration routines are crucial to maintaining healthy muscles through improved cell repair and growth. Understanding what your loved one’s new routine should look like and how to deliver it is critical. Home care providers, like Home Instead, often offer meal preparation and hydration monitoring as part of their services.
Seeking Physiotherapy Treatments: When focused on core strength, physiotherapy can effectively reduce fall risks (Catherine Sherrington et al., 2015). However, to be referred, you must establish a case with your GP or connect with Home Care providers, like Home Instead, who can work on this with you.
How Home Instead Watford is Reducing Elderly Fall Risks
We are tackling elderly fall risks in three ways.
Firstly, we are heavily promoting fall prevention education among our clients and the wider community. So far, here on our blog that has included conversations on:
We also have much more for youon our podcast, which covers topics like Respite Care (a valuable service for those recently discharged from the hospital).
You can alsofollow us on Facebook.
Secondly, we offer afree fall risk checklist to local residents, which offers simple fall prevention steps that you can carry out at home.
Finally, we offer afree in-home falls assessment visit to help you tailor and fine-tune your loved one’s fall prevention care plan.
