Locally, falls are the largest cause of emergency hospital admissions for older people – during 2021/2 in Oxfordshire there were 3005 emergency hospital admissions for falls in people aged 65+. There were also 3,232 ambulance callouts for people who had fallen and needed to be picked up from the floor, 39% of these were conveyed to hospital.
Falls in later life often lead to a reduction in independence and increased social isolation and affect long-term outcomes for individuals. Falls that result in injury can be devastating, and of those suffering a hip fracture, only one in three people return to former levels of independence and a further third leave their own homes and move to long-term care.
This Falls Prevention Awareness Week we’re sharing information about our:
- Stay Strong and Steady falls prevention exercise and information programme.
- Strength and Balance exercise classes (across Oxfordshire and NEW classes launching in Kidlington and Wolvercote).
- Foot care clinics.
Our physical activity sessions and foot care clinics are available across the county to help older people reduce their risk of falling. Follow the links above to see our current locations.
You can learn about the impact our Stay Strong and Steady programme has by reading Ossee’s story here.
We also lead Oxfordshire on the Move’s Falls Prevention Awareness working group, in which we partner with the Falls Prevention Service, Exercise on Referral and Active Oxfordshire. If you’d like to be involved in the working group you can find out more here.
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