The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control, tracks data from a representative sample of hospital emergency departments (EDs).  This dataset was recently analyzed1 to reveal the circumstances of injurious falls and the assistive devices that were involved, yielding estimates that:

Each year in the US there are 47,312 nonfatal fall injury ED visits associated with the use of canes and walkers by people 65+ years of age;  60% of these happen at home.

The injuries sustained in these falls are serious with …

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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports results from analyses of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-Nationwide Emergency Department Sample regarding ED visits among elderly adults who were coded as sustaining both a fall and an injury.  Starting from the vantage point of the ED these analyses highlight the importance of our efforts to reduce falls and illuminate how injurious falls contribute to human suffering, ED overcrowding, hospital costs, admission to long term care facilities as well as private and government health care spending.  Having sustained …

If you are poor or old or both and on a Government Funded Healthcare plan typically you will be receiving inferior care from doctors.  The doctors you see are getting paid at levels that border on volunteer work since the premiums and reimbursements the government pay is so low.  In fact, the system is so antiquated that doctors (i.e. internists) many times forgo prescribing additional help for the elderly in order to steer clear of having to deal with the paperwork, regulations, and consistent rejections of recommended care.
With President Obama …

Home Sweet Home
People spend years building and spending their hard earned money and time on their homes.  But how many think about making an environment that is senior friendly?
As we age we are not able to perform the same tasks with the ease of our earlier years, creating many dangerous situations.  The current home may not be adequately prepared to provide the safety and convenience of the aging residents.
The rate of our aging seniors is beginning to influence the development of new appliances; stairs, homes, and electronics. Currently seniors, age …