Through years of working with older adults, our team has had countless conversations with end-users about their hopes, desires, and fears. Interestingly, we have heard over and over again that loss of independence and fear of falls ranks higher than the fear of death.

With the vast majority (90%) of older Americans wishing to age in place, there has been a huge increase in products and services to help empower independent aging and offer loved ones peace of mind.

When living alone, fall prevention for seniors requires a clear plan. Spending time to evaluate trip hazards around the home, ensuring proper lighting and furniture placement, and adding assistive devices like canes or walkers are all great ways to get ahead and prevent potential falls. Making contingency plans in case a fall does occur can also minimize the risk of severe injury or long-term effects.

A home care fall prevention program should include strategies for before and after a fall. ElliQ is an AI robot care companion that provides useful tools to manage this difficult topic. For example, ElliQ offers fall prevention exercises and fall prevention strategies, like: 

• Staying physically and mentally active
• Medication management
• Setting up a primary contact for quick alerts  

Staying physically and mentally active

One of the many fall prevention tips is ensuring seniors stay physically active and mentally alert. ElliQ has pre-programmed exercises for the body and the mind. These include yoga lessons, sit-to-stand strength training, balance and core strengthening, and many more video guides thanks to a collaboration with Bold Training and Fitness videos.

ElliQ also has cognitive games and activities specifically for older adults. These games are designed to reduce stress and improve healthy cognition. ElliQ’s physical and mental activities can’t prevent falls but can certainly keep seniors alert and strong.

Medication management

ElliQ is like a remote caregiver that promotes independent and empowered aging for seniors everywhere. Another essential method to reduce the risk of falls is making sure that medication is managed since missed medications is a known contributing risk factor to falls.

ElliQ supports medication management through timer settings and reminder features. This ensures each senior is taking the correct amount of medication at the correct times. Medication management is critical in ensuring that each senior is in good health, coherent, and attentive.

Setting up a primary contact for quick alerts 

Finally, ElliQ has an extremely valuable communication feature. It is incredibly simple to add loved ones and caregivers to a list of contacts that can be alerted when necessary. While ElliQ is not an emergency device, the user is always able to simply say, “ElliQ, call Sarah” and the device will immediately connect them with their family member, friend, or loved one.

If a user reports that they are in severe pain or not feeling well, ElliQ will also offer to contact people in your address book. Once you’ve given consent, an SMS message will alert the individuals in your care circle so they can check in with you.

Fall prevention and post-fall assistance cannot directly be solved with ElliQ, but many of the features include ways to bring peace of mind for all. There are fundamental fall prevention strategies, including physical and mental exercise, daily check-ins, and more.

It is important to have conversations about ways to be proactive in mitigating the risk of falls and how to handle the situation if a fall does unfortunately occur. Being prepared is the best way to maintain a sense of security as we (or our loved ones) age independently in the home.