Greensboro Senior AdvisorWhat should we do right after an older parent falls?
Get a medical evaluation even if there is no obvious injury, ask the doctor to review medications and blood pressure, and find out why the fall happened: tripping, dizziness, weakness or confusion each point to different fixes.
Falls after a new medication, an infection or a change in blood pressure are common and often fixable. Ask for a physical therapy evaluation; Medicare covers outpatient or home-health therapy when it is medically necessary.
Will a fall lead to rehab in a nursing home?
If the fall causes a fracture or other injury requiring an inpatient hospital stay of at least three days, Original Medicare can then cover short-term rehab in a skilled nursing facility while daily skilled care is needed.
Check the rehab facility's CMS short-stay measures and staffing on our nursing home pages. Plan the return home or the next step from the first week of rehab.
How do we make the home safer after a fall?
Remove loose rugs and clutter, add grab bars and a shower chair, improve lighting on stairs and the route to the bathroom at night, and set up a medical alert device your parent will actually wear.
An occupational therapist can do a home safety assessment. CAP/DA and some Area Agency on Aging programs can help with home modifications for those who qualify.
When does a fall mean a parent should move?
When falls repeat despite changes, when your parent cannot get up or call for help alone, when nights are the danger time, or when fear of falling has stopped your parent from moving around at all.
An adult care home provides staff in the building around the clock and help with bathing and toileting, the two activities where many falls happen. Ask every home you tour how it responds to a fall, who checks the resident afterward and how families are notified.
How can we see a facility's record on falls?
For nursing homes, CMS publishes the share of long-stay residents with a fall causing major injury; for adult care homes, read DHSR's inspection documents, where fall-related findings appear under supervision and care rules.
Our facility pages link each home's inspection documents and CMS figures. A home with repeated citations for supervision deserves pointed questions about staffing on third shift.
What should we ask a home about falls before moving in?
Ask how often residents are checked at night, whether call bells are within reach of the bed and toilet, how quickly staff respond, what the home does after a fall, and how it involves the doctor and family.
Ask too whether the home uses bed or chair alarms and how it balances fall prevention with residents' right to move about freely. A thoughtful answer about a recent fall, with names left out, tells you more than a promise that falls never happen.
Drawn from G.S. Chapter 131D, 10A NCAC 13F and 13G, DHSR and NCDHHS publications, NC Medicaid, CareScout, CMS, the VA and the Piedmont Triad aging agency cited in the text; our editorial standards explain how we check them.
