A major cause of accidents at home and overseas for the elderly is falling. You could fall off a ladder or roof fixing a roof at home. (This happened a couple of years ago to a relative in the USA.)
You might fall down stairs at home or in a hotel. When you are younger, you might laugh and forget if you fall off a chair whilst changing a light bulb, or trip over a paving stone. When you are older, you cause more damage, or alarm, when you fall over a pothole, up or down steps into your house or a building.
You might often simply trip over your own long skirt or shoe laces or bump into a trolley at a supermarket, or fall for no apparent reason at all. That's without being drunk, overtired, jet-lagged.
Frequent Falls On Public Transport
Signs on the London underground railway, nicknamed the tube, warn you to hold onto the handrail of the escalators. They say accidents happen every week.
Mind the Gap is a sign used in the UK, China (Hong Kong), and Canada.
Mind the gap sign in Victoria station, London, England, UK. Photo author WillMcC in Wikipedia.
Prevention Of Falls
Prevention is better than cure.
What precautions can you take? The NHS Falls Prevention issues a booklet of exercises left by a trainer for those patients at risk of falling.
I have two relatives who take Alendronic, to strengthen bones. This is a prescription drug.
Chewable Adcal
Adcal, chewable calcium and vitamin D is currently in 2026 available in UK chemist shops (Europeans say pharmacies, Americans say drug stores) for anybody to buy. Adcal is free on the NHS in the UK to those British residents who are eligible for free medicine because of low income and/or advanced age and medical need.
It comes in more than one flavour. Lemon. Multiple fruits.
You can also buy it online. Prices vary. You can search for the cheapest supplier, taking into account whether postage is included or extra.
Practical Information Falling Safely
Safe Falling Demonstration
I recall at a |Toastmasters International club in Singapore, which met at the Sheraton hotel, the late Laurence who had had part of one leg amputated, enjoyed shocking the audience by pretending to fall up the steps to the middle of the dais. He would fall and immediately right himself, and gleefully lift his trousers to show his wooden ankle.
He always got applause and was voted the best table topics speaker. (He was volunteering to give 2 minute impromptu speech on one of the topics which in the 1920s when TI started in the USA were on pieces of paper on the table, face down, selected randomly.)
After writing this poem I started wondering how you avoid a fall. I seem to remember that he had learned to fall safely at martial arts classes, which are very popular in Singapore, and taught to all ages in the Community Centres in every area.
I have spoken to many people who train for marathons. In the months ahead of a triathlon, they practise running, plus swimming or cycling.
My husband, when we lived in Singapore, used to run down and up the stairs to our flat on the 12th floor of a skyscraper. Good practice for a marathon, or if the lift fails.
But what about falling?
I asked AI for advice on falling.
Advice On Falling
Protect your head:
Roll with the fall:
Avoid breaking falls with straight arms:
Fall sideways if possible:
Sources Of Information On Safe Falling
Falling is the leading cause of injury-related death among older adults aged 65 and older.
The most authoritative and reliable sources tracking these statistics include:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The CDC tracks mortality data and emergency department visits through its National Center for Health Statistics. Their tracking shows that falls among adults 65 and older cause tens of thousands of deaths annually (with figures surpassing 43,000 deaths per year in the U.S.), making accidental falls the number one cause of injury death for this demographic.
You can explore their datasets and reports directly on the CDC Older Adult Falls Data World Health Organization (WHO): Globally, the WHO reports that falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide, noting that older adults suffer the highest burden of fatal falls globally.
Their global estimates and risk factors are detailed on the WHO Falls Fact Sheet National Council on Aging (NCOA): The NCOA compiles extensive research from federal health databases, highlighting that roughly one in four older Americans falls every year, cementing falls as the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for the demographic.
Their summaries can be found via the NCOA Falls Prevention Resource Center
