Senior Safety

As you age, you become prone to an increasing number of injuries. These accidental injuries can be attributed to the normal process of aging, medication or related to medical conditions that ‌present with age.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traditionally identifies unintentional injury as the seventh leading cause of death for Americans 65 and older. That means that largely preventable injuries kill more older Americans every year than kidney disease, the flu, pneumonia and Parkinson’s disease.

Incidences of the three most common injuries older adults experience have been increasing steadily since 2010. Data shows a 30% increase in deaths attributed to falls and traumatic brain injury (TBI) over the past decade, and there are 250,000 crash-related injuries involving drivers 65 and older every year.

Taking steps early to improve your safety as you age can prevent some of the most serious injuries older Americans experience and improve your overall health and retirement lifestyle.

Your home and neighborhood may be unsafe as you age. Some of the most common unsafe environments involve hazards that increase the risk of falling.

Being able to identify certain common hazards helps you to ‌correct them before they cause injury. This awareness can also help you recognize hazardous environments when you are away from home.

Falls are one of the leading — and most serious — injuries among older adults. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that a staggering 36 million older Americans fall every year.

One in every five falls among older adults causes a broken bone, head injury or other serious injury. And three million seniors end up in the emergency room every year after a fall.

Weakened muscles and bones, along with vision loss associated with aging, can affect your balance and increase your risk of falling.

While falls are common, falling should not be a normal part of healthy aging. There are several steps you can take to prevent falls as you age.

Most medical alert systems offer fall detection features. These devices connect you to trained emergency operators who can assess your condition in a medical emergency and contact first responders.

With a fall detection option, a wearable medical alert device can recognize a fall. It can also detect a lack of motion that suggests you are unconscious.

In that case, the device can notify the emergency call center to dispatch first responders.

Injuries in the home account for the overwhelming majority of injuries in America, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 40% of injuries men suffer, and more than half of all injuries women receive, are from accidents in the home.

Making your home safe can significantly reduce your chances of an injury. Most steps to accident-proof your home require little time and expense.

Your risk of being injured or killed in a traffic accident increases as you age. Roughly one in every five drivers — 46 million Americans — are 65 and older, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Older drivers are involved in 1.6 million traffic crashes each year, resulting in 250,000 visits to the emergency room and 68,000 hospitalizations. About 8,000 older Americans die in traffic crashes each year. That’s roughly 22 deaths every day.

Senior safety programs are local and vary from one town to the next. A good way to find senior safety programs near you is to call your local city or county government to ask about what senior safety services are available in your area.

You can also contact your local Area Agency on Aging about programs that may be available near you.

The National Safety Council offers an Online Mature Driver Defensive Driving Course to help older drivers keep their skills sharp. The state police or highway patrol in many states also offer safety courses or programs for older drivers. You can also contact your state police about programs available where you live.