The St Dominic’s Pastoral Centre at St Finbar’s RC Church, Diego Martin will be one of four venues used for the second annual Stay Steady Fall Prevention Programme.
The free programme allows participants 60 years and older to be screened for fall risk. Family and caregivers are also invited to attend. There will be education on fall-prevention techniques from a wide variety of health-care providers ranging from physicians, to nurses, to occupational and physical therapists among others.
The programme will be at the Pastoral Centre on March 12, from 9 a.m.– noon. The other venues are: Point Fortin (location to be confirmed) on March 13, 9 a.m.–noon; Bon Air West Community Centre, Bon Air, Arouca, on March 14, 9 a.m. – noon; and John Dial Community Centre, Tobago on March 15, 10 a.m.– 1 p.m.
The event was initiated last year by the Stay Steady Foundation, a non-governmental organisation whose goal is to address the problem of falls among adults thereby improving the quality of life of senior citizens. It is supported by Total Rehabilitation Centre Limited (TRCL), The Physiotherapy Association of Trinidad and Tobago, and Springfield College, USA.
Carla Rauseo, physical therapist, TRCL and the Foundation’s director stated that statistics on falls are alarming. “Almost everyone knows an older adult who has fallen. One out of three adults over age 65 falls every year, and of those who fall and sustain an injury, only 30 per cent will return to their prior level of function.”
Rauseo said falls put a tremendous burden on the victim, the family “and our already overwhelmed local health-care services. Our research has also shown that the cost of surgery for a hip fracture after a fall in a private hospital is upwards of TT$70,000, and this does not include post-discharge care. It is therefore vital that measures be taken to prevent falls.”
Sponsors include The Hip and Knee Clinic, Trinidad Orthopedics Limited, American Hospital Supply, The Massy Foundation, The Guardian Group and Doctors’ Inn Osteoporosis Imaging Centre.
For more information, contact TRCL at 675-4973 or visit http://www.facebook.com/staysteadyTT