Assisted living facilities, can be the safest place for the elderly, disabled or injured to stay when assistance is necessary by a medicinally trained staff.  However, falls are a major common problem in these facilities causing severe injury to the patients living in them. Falls can be avoided by having fall prevention training classes every few months to help educated the medical staff on duty how to prevent falls and handle them properly when they do occur.

Topics that Should be discussed in a Fall Prevention Training Class

Create an Exercise Plan for Residents in the Facility: Explain to the staff working at the assisted living facility that creating an exercise plan for the residents staying there can actually help prevent falls by maintaining or strengthening their bones and muscles of the elderly, disabled or injured. The stronger the bones and muscles of an assisted living patient are, the lower the chances of falling will be for them. Tell the staff you will be incorporating an exercise routine into your daily schedule and designating a few staff members each day to help with it.
Keep a Closer Eye on Residents Prone to Falling: Each week the staff should be informed of residents prone to falling. Knowing which ones are prone to falling helps keep an eye on them better so they can be better assisted when they need help moving around or getting or doing something. Typically, residents that are prone to falling more often are ones with cognitive impairment, diabetes, and females according to statistics.
Make Sure Safety Handles are Placed in Proper Spots: Incorporating safety handles in your assisted living facility in essential areas that need them can prevent residents from falling down and injuring themselves severely. Some of the places safety handles should be placed are near bathtubs, showers, toilets, beds and staircases. If there is a swimming area in the facility safety handles to help get residents in and out of the pool safety should be placed in the area.
Place a Buzzer Alert System within the Facility: Placing a buzzer alert system in the facility so residents can get help when they needed it is essential to preventing unneeded falls.Sometimes residents will try doing things on there own if they cannot alert someone for help. The buzzer alert system can also alert the medical staff that a resident has fallen and needs assistance immediately.