The ministry in charge of autonomy made public, Monday, February 21, a plan to raise awareness of the risk of falls among the elderly and better avoid them.
- In France, falls in the elderly are responsible for 100,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths each year.
- They often lead to a loss of autonomy in the individuals concerned.
- The plan is based on five axes, to reduce falls by 2024.
Falls are the leading cause of accidental death in people over 65. They also have psychological and social consequences for the individual and those around him. According to the Ministry of Health, they also generate two billion euros in expenditure. However, these figures are set to increase in the years to come: the grandpa-boom of children born after the war will result in a 50% increase in people aged 75 to 84 by 2030. For these various reasons, Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, and Brigitte Bourguignon, Minister Delegate for Autonomy, presented a plan to reduce fatal or disabling falls among the elderly by 20% by 2024.
Did you know that falls kill 10,000 elderly people every year? That is 3 times more than road accidents. It is a huge public health issue that is very little known in France. #PLANTANTICHUTE pic.twitter.com/xaw4gribKZ
— Brigitte Bourguignon (@BrigBourguignon) February 21, 2022
How to prevent falls?
“Far from being trivial, they break livesanalyzes Brigitte Bourguignon in a communicated. How many times have I heard in my visits to establishments: ‘I had to leave my home because I fell“The first axis of the plan is to improve the identification of risk and to alert accordingly. The minister is counting on professionals to carry out assessments and examinations at home and identify the risks of falling.”The distribution to all those involved in the autonomy of the two typical portraits of fallers, which reflect 80% of falls, as well as the five signs of ‘preliminary fallers’ will make it possible to identify people at risk in order to provide them with solutions in order to to prevent the fall“, specifies the document. This also requires an adapted development of housing. To do this, aid specific to the prevention of falls will be proposed. They will be accessible via the platform “My Premium Adapt’“, a device allowing the various aids to be merged. Another financial plan will be dedicated to maintaining mobility. Finally, access to remote assistance services will be facilitated, with a reduced cost. These tools make it possible to alert as many quickly in the event of a fall, it can be cases, bracelets, etc.
Move to fall less
One of the axes of this plan is movement. The government intends to promote adapted physical activity for the elderly. It is based in particular on the conclusions of the High Authority for Health: “Adapted physical activity in the elderly has beneficial effects that far outweigh the risks. It has beneficial effects on physical condition, functional abilities, cognition and the risk of falls and is a factor in maintaining autonomy..” Appropriate programs will be set up in local structures, and a “care basket“will be tested with the coordinated intervention of three professionals: an adapted physical activity practitioner, a dietitian and an occupational therapist. TwitterBrigitte Bourguignon provides details on the implementation of these axes, the Regional Health Agencies are now in charge of declining these different axes, and presenting concrete action plans by September.
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