Thank you all for coming! We are really grateful for the support of - PDF document

Thank you all for coming! We are really grateful for the support of our volunteers and participating organizations. We are also pleased that representatives from different parts of the region are with us today to help support this initiative. We hope this is just one of many opportunities, for people to come together, to support staying active, safe and healthy in our communities. 1

My name is Julia Miller, and I’m a Knowledge Broker here at the Centre for Studies in Aging and Health, at Providence Care Hospital. I’d like to give you a bit of background on who has been involved in developing, and launching this calendar and why it was created. I am one of many members of the South East Regional Integrated Fall Prevention and Management Strategy. Together we are representatives from organizations across our region, working together to reduce falls among older adults. 2

Currently our membership includes representatives from 16 different organizations who have a vested interest in preventing and managing falls in our region. The calendar is the result of efforts from our Public Awareness & Education, Engagement & Advocacy Working groups as well as representatives of the Ontario Age-Friendly Community Outreach Program. 3

The Age-Friendly Community Outreach Program is funded by the Ministry of Seniors Affairs. This project supports the development of partnerships, online resources, and the creation of a network for knowledge exchange across Ontario. Dr. John Puxty, who is a co-chair of our Regional Falls Strategy is also a lead on this Age-Friendly Communities project. In seeing the value of supporting fall prevention initiatives as ways to increase the age-friendliness of communities, we were able to work together to develop the calendar and share its launch with you today. For those not familiar with this concept; an age-friendly community is one where policies, services and physical spaces are designed to enable people of all ages to live in a secure and accessible physical and social environment. AFCs contribute to good health, and allow people to participate fully in society, throughout their lifetime. 4

An important component of Age-Friendly Communities, is the use of Universal Design principles, which create environments which are inclusive without accessibility appearing as an after-thought. For that reason I am so glad that we were able to host this event in this wonderful new hospital, which has incorporated so many elements which help illustrate what we hope to achieve in the development of Age-Friendly Communities. 5

Ways in which Providence Care Hospital models some of the aims of Age-Friendly Communities include its wide sidewalks with marked slopes and tactile paving to let users know that they are changing to a different surface, benches with arms for people to stop and rest when needed, large bilingual signage, ample bike parking, easily accessible outdoor fixtures which work well for people with wheelchairs, and barrier free access to the park and nature. 6

Inside Providence Care Hospital we have automatic doors, large windows and bright lights, easy to access elevators, a variety of sizes of armed chairs spaced comfortably to make getting around easier for everyone; as well as handrails and high contrast signs. 7

An important aspect of fall prevention has to do with our physical environment. By incorporating age-friendly elements such as good lighting, hand rails, doorways and spaces that accommodate mobility aids, furniture and fixtures that support a variety of people; We have environments that support inclusion and remove barriers to participation, as well as reduce the risk of falls. 8

When we look at fall prevention from an Age-Friendly Communities lens, we look for partners from a variety of roles to understand the barriers that exist to preventing falls in our communities, and then work together to address them. We begin to understand ways to improve communication and awareness of risk factors, prevention strategies and related programs and services in our communities. We can begin to understand the individual, and the context of their lives, so we can better support their needs. I’d like to point out that there are no one size fits all solutions, be it for age -friendly communities or fall prevention. I find it interesting that we have learned that the best way to tackle fall prevention, is to take a multi-factorial approach, by addressing a variety, of individualized contributing factors we achieve the best outcomes. Similarly through the development of age-friendly communities, while there is a great framework for addressing the 8 domains…to be successful and sustainable, initiatives have to fit the context of each individual communities diverse needs. This means we need collaborative groups, with special skills and backgrounds, to tackle such complex work. 9

November is Fall Prevention Month and this is a big deal for our strategy members, because this is when we rally together, and try extra hard to raise awareness, and get people engaged in fall prevention activities. Our strategy co-chair, Patti Lennox of Community and Primary Health Care and strategy member, Brenda Adams of the Victorian Order of Nurses developed a fall prevention calendar a couple of years ago with the support of the South East LHIN. This was really popular and they found it to be a great way to keep fall prevention at the top of mind all year round. Our group wanted to build on that success and take it another step further by sharing even more information about resources available in our communities, to help keep our older adults safe, active and healthy all year round. There is a phrase that we like to use, and it’s that “It takes a community to prevent a fall and we all have a role to play.” 10

Often people think of a fall, as a problem of the individual. While the greatest impact is likely going to be at that individual level, the family, friends and communities of those older individuals are also impacted. By increasing awareness that falls are often a sign of a problem, fall risk factors and ways we can reduce risks of falling, we help support the quality of life of our older adults. The image on the screen is from a Heart & Stroke campaign called Make Health Last, and I thought this was a fitting way to illustrate the impact a fall can have. 11

This slides shows just some of the risk factors for falls…as you can see there are quite a few. Likely you know someone who has at least one of these risk factors. When we think about it this way, we begin to see how individual health problems, can create a public health issue. 12

In Ontario alone, falls are the leading cause of injury for those aged sixty five and over. In 2010, they suffered over 100,000 emergency department visits, over 20,000 hospital admissions and more than 2000 deaths. The costs associated with these injuries were $1 billion dollars in direct costs alone. 13

Hip fractures are unfortunately a common consequence of a fall. Back in 2013, Osteoporosis Canada attempted to project the number of hip fractures, and their associated direct costs up until two thousand and thirty five. The costs shown in this table are using 2010 dollars, and put the cost of a single hip fracture at $21,439 dollars. Many in the health care sector, would say this is significantly below the costs for treatment today, and no one can truly estimate the cost of pain and suffering associated with these injuries. 14

These Canadian statistics reflect how significant a problems falls are. They are the leading cause of injury among older Canadians. 20 -30% of seniors experience 1 or more fall each year. Falls in older adults cause 85% of injury related hospitalizations, 95% of all hip fractures and $2 billion dollars in direct healthcare costs. Falls can result in chronic pain, reduced mobility, loss of independence and death. 50% of all falls that require hospitalization happen in the home. The average older Canadian stays in hospital 10 days longer for falls than any other cause and over one third of older adults ARE admitted to a long-term care home following a hospitalization for a fall. 15

This chart looks at the number of injury deaths, hospitalizations, emergency room visits and related disability cases by cause in Canada in 2010. When we look at the numbers related to falls compared to other injuries, we see what a significant problem fall-related injuries and deaths are. 16

The Cost of Injury in Canada, 2015 report provided information regarding the economic burden of injury by cause. This chart shows the costs in millions for 2010. As you can see, the total costs of falls are the highest of all injuries for that year, with a total of 8,680 million dollars. As the Canadian population ages these costs are expected to increase significantly. 17

This chart illustrates the increase in hospitalization rate by gender and age group. Across all ages, females are hospitalized more for fall related injuries and as both genders age, the rates increase significantly. In the five year period between 2003 and 2008 injuries due to falls rose 43% and deaths due to falls rose 65%. As the population ages, addressing the problem of falls in Canada will become increasingly urgent. 18