Fear of Falling

Anyone can have a fall. You are definitely not alone. Falling can be very frightening and may lead to a loss of confidence, not doing so many activities, anxiety and worry.

The more worried you become, the less likely you are to keep active which, in turn, makes you more likely to fall again. You may find that you are more careful with your walking, start to slow down your pace or you begin to leave the house left often. These are very common responses and it may mean you’ve lost some of your confidence when getting around. It is important to remember that there are lots of things that you can do to reduce your risk of falling and improve your confidence. Working through the self-assessment tool on this website is a great start.

Having a falls plan in place can help to reduce anxiety and will reduce the likelihood of being on the floor for a long time.

If you are hurt or unable to get up:

Summon help by using your pendant alarm (if you have one), calling out, crawling to a telephone or by banging on a wall
Make sure there are blankets in each room so that you can keep warm
Move to a softer surface if you are able
Change position regularly if you are able

If you are unhurt and feel you can get up:

Roll over onto your hands and knees
Crawl to a stable piece of furniture such as an armchair and use this to assist you with getting up
Turn and sit on a chair or bed and rest for a while

If you are worried about falling when you are alone at home, you might want to get a pendant alarm to enable you to call for help even if you can’t reach the telephone.

There are also telecare sensors available such as falls detectors for people who would not be able to press a pendant alarm.

Remember

If you have had a fall, try not to worry about it too much. There are plenty of things you can do to minimise your risk of it happening again

If your worries are not going away, try talking to someone about it

Set yourself small goals to build back up to your usual activities – e.g. walk for a short distance first

Think about all the times you haven’t fallen and try to maintain your usual levels of activity

Complete a self-assessment plan

Rehabilitation

For further information on rehabilitation for Falls and Bone Health in Swindon, please contact the Community Rehabilitation Team, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 01793 607710

Live Well Swindon

Live Well Swindon provides advice and support in areas such as being active, falls prevention, stopping smoking, weight management, connecting to communities and volunteering, and managing long-term health conditions and staying independent. It also delivers a range of activities and programmes designed to inspire, motivate and assist people to live well and benefit from a healthy lifestyle.

For more information about Live Well Swindon:

Phone: 01793 465513
Email: livewell@swindon.gov.uk
Visit Website: The Live Well Swindon Hub

Age UK Wiltshire

Age UK Wiltshire provides a range of services to help older people stay safe, make informed choices and be independent yet connected. For more information about our services please contact 0808 196 2424 or see www.ageukwiltshire.org.uk.

As part of the Swindon Falls Collaborative, through our Supportive Independence project, we support people 65+ to become more active and better connected to their community. [Web link will be available in the next couple of weeks.]

We run three Fitness and Friendship Clubs in Swindon - Social clubs for older people with an emphasis on keeping active which are open to all older people who would like the opportunity to take part in activities and gentle exercise - https://www.ageuk.org.uk/wiltshire/activities-and-events/fitness-and-friendship/.