Do You Know What 3 Questions Can Help Protect Older Adults from Falls? steadi-wide-logo-500wOne in three older adults falls each year, yet less than half tell their health care provider. A new CDC/Medscape video commentary with CDC’s Dr. Grant Baldwin aims to help start this important conversation. The video, part of CDC’s STEADI initiative, highlights three questions that health care providers can integrate into routine office visits with patients 65 and older:
  1. Have you fallen in the past year?
  2. Do you feel unsteady when standing or walking?
  3. Do you worry about falling?
Using the tools in CDC’s STEADI initiative, the video then guides health care providers on screening, assessments, and proven interventions, such as:
  • Reviewing medications to ensure appropriate geriatric doses and reducing fall risk-increasing drugs.
  • Recommending Vitamin D supplements.
Watch the Medscape Video CDC Expert Commentary: Are You Asking Older Adult Patients the Right Questions? (free Medscape login required) Why This Is Important A fall among an older adult can lead to injuries that reduce mobility, limit social interactions, decrease physical fitness, lower quality of life, and increase the risk of early death. Through STEADI, CDC is working to educate patients and health care providers about how to help keep older adults safe from falls, so they can stay healthy, active, and independent longer. Spread the Word New CDC/Medscape Video highlights 3 questions that health care providers should ask every patient 65 and older. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/841020 #WHCoA Learn More STEADI