The Health Service Executive, Department of Health and Children and National Council on Ageing and Older people have jointly prepared a strategy to “Prevent Falls and Fractures in Ireland’s Ageing Population”.
Falls in Older people can have life changing consequences, and older people are most likely to suffer serious injuries, disability, psychological consequences and death following a fall. The risk of falling increases with age - one in three older people fall every year and two-thirds of them fall again within six months. As our population ages the number of falls and injuries in this age group will increase.
Today Ireland has 480,000 people over the age of 65, which will increase to one million in 25 years time. By that time, there could be a doubling in the number of falls and fractures that occur if today’s rates do not improve.
Falls and fractures in older people can be prevented and the strategy being published today outlines a range of measures that should assist older people to avoid falls, and to protect them from the more serious consequences of a fall or fracture.
Read or download the Strategy below - the files include the full report, an executive summary of the report, and six technical reports which fed into the development of the strategy.
Published August 2008.
Click the link on this page to download or read this report.
