Hospitals and Healthcare

Physicians must not only study the human body, but live in it.

Dance has been shown to be good for both the minds and bodies of people as they age. Nancy Low Choy Memorial Gerontology/Neurology Seeding Grant recipient Heidi Gilchrist outlines that carefully structured dance classes may also help prevent falls. Regular physical activity is a necessity for people as they get older, not just for fitness but also to prevent falls. 

An independent, not-for-profit, medical research institute dedicated to improving the lives of people living with brain and nervous system disorders.

As the future of e-scooters is considered in South Australia, consideration should be given to the safety of people living with disabilities, Bethany Cody writes in this special report.

If we could acknowledge that we are all vulnerable, our shame would go away.

About 1.2 million stair-related injuries occurred for those 65 and older in the United States from 2016 to 2020. Here are some tips on making stairs safer.

Nearly 5 per cent of Royal Melbourne Hospital admissions are from falls and ladder injuries – and doctors say it’s mostly men of a certain age.

Hundreds of patients are suffering undiagnosed delirium every year in hospitals, leaving them vulnerable to complications and death.

Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide, yet doctors don’t have an easy way to check balance, like they do blood pressure or pulse. In this test, which can be done in less than a minute, the patient gets three attempts to do a 10-second one-legged stand on either leg.

More can be done to stop older people from falling, says physiotherapist Melanie Haley, who used the world guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults to analyse falls rates at her workplace. As a physiotherapist who works in the public health sector with a particular interest in falls prevention, I find the failure of our health services to reduce the rate of falls for our patients and clients an ongoing bitter pill to swallow. 

In Australia's biggest trauma hospital, doctors are seeing an increase in older patients suffering injuries from falls. They say it is only going to get worse.

The risk for both fractures and falls was highest among people with glaucoma.

The most effective workouts combine activities that focus on balance with functional exercises (moves that resemble everyday activities) and strength training.

Most of us know someone who’s had a fall in old age. A new report suggests a new approach to prevention that sees physiotherapy come under Medicare.