The NSW Falls Injury Prevention Network bi-monthly Newsletter has just been launched and it features a story on Hazards in the Home which cites research that indicated that a home survey of 570 older people found that all had at least one environmental risk factor. Further, the Victorian Injury Surveillance & Applied Research System (VISAR) collected information on falls from 1618 people and found that many falls occurred in a private home with half occurring in the living or bedroom areas. Less than one-tenth occured in the bathroom/toilet which was unexpected. However a quarter of falls were in the garage, and this appeared to involve steps and possible clutter.
THe full story with references and information about home hazard assessment tools is attached. The NSW Falls Network website contains a host of other relevant information (including past newsletters) and can can be found at http://www.powmri.edu.au/fallsnetwork
