Fall Prevention

Some 25 years ago, Sweden's health care system, faced with an ageing population and daunted by the escalating costs of remedial surgery and hospitalisation due to falls in the elderly, challenged Sweden's medical industry to become a world leader in assistive technology and mobility solutions for the older generation. Studies of existing interventions established that:

• Walking sticks did not prevent falls;
• static, Zimmer-type frames were unsafe and did not promote a natural, balanced gait;
• existing, three-wheeled walking frames were unstable.

In an on-going development programme specifically aimed at fall prevention, with dual benefits both for the safety and well-being of the population, as well as significantly reduced costs for the state health service, a wide and imaginative range of walking aids has been developed. These are designed to cater for the diversity of ailments which afflict older and other mobility-impaired people. The older generation is encouraged to remain independent and mobile and to continue with their indoor and outdoor pursuits by using practical, collapsible, four-wheeled walkers that make daily living easier. These walking aids are fitted with simple brakes, shopping baskets, trays and seats with modifications for specific medical conditions. Conventional wisdom among healthcare professionals in Sweden is that up to 80% of falls can be prevented by the use of an appropriate walker.

Whenever a patient is diagnosed with a balance or gait problem by a health professional, a four-wheeled walking aid is prescribed. Each year 65,000 new walkers are issued by the Swedish National Health Service and a similar number is recycled through an efficient state loan system. Social acceptability is evidenced by the numbers of walker users seen in Swedish supermarkets, on public transport etc. with recent estimates suggesting that in excess of 3.5% of the population uses these devices.

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