Falls: Behind the Numbers

Did you know that nearly all of resident falls in senior housing communities are unwitnessed, and 70% of falls occur in a resident’s bedroom? These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s dig into the numbers and discover how to prevent and reduce the risk of falling.

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The Golden Years

Guerreiro R, Bras J. "The age factor in Alzheimer's disease." Genome Medicine. 2015; 7:106.

Baby Boomers have already begun to reach age 65 (and the oldest members turned 74 in 2020).

now 74 y.o.

now 57 y.o.

1920

1940

boomers

1960

2020

2020

2050

• He W, Goodkind D, Kowal P. U.S. Census Bureau, International Population Reports, P95/16-1, "An Aging World: 2015," U.S. Government Publishing Office, Washington, D.C., 2016.
• U.S. Census Bureau. 2014 National Population Projections: Downloadable Files. Available at census.gov.

The population of Americans aged 65+ is projected to grow from 56 million in 2020 to 88 million by 2050.

56,000,000 elders

88,000,000 elders

And we have a growing problem

• Saunders AM, Strittmatter WJ, Schmechel D, George-Hyslop PH, Pericak-Vance MA, Joo SH, et al. "Association of apolipoprotein E allele epsilon 4 with late-onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease." Neurology. 1993;43:1467-72.
• U.S. Census Bureau. 2014 National Population Projections: Downloadable Files. Available at census.gov.

1 in 10

• Saunders AM, Strittmatter WJ, Schmechel D, George-Hyslop PH, Pericak-Vance MA, Joo SH, et al. "Association of apolipoprotein E allele epsilon 4 with late-onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease." Neurology. 1993;43:1467-72.
• U.S. Census Bureau. 2014 National Population Projections: Downloadable Files. Available at census.gov.

people age 65+ has Alzheimer’s DEMENTIA

Hebert LE, Weuve J, Scherr PA, Evans DA. "Alzheimer disease in the United States (2010-2050) estimated using the 2010 Census." Neurology. 2013; 80(19):1778-83.

an estimated 5.8 million americans age 65+ are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2020.

Falls are
a serious issue...

Bergen G, Stevens MR, Burns ER. "Falls and Fall Injuries Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2014." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2016; 65:993–998.
One in four Americans aged 65+ falls each year.
Büchele, G.; Becker, C.; Cameron, I.; König, H.; Robinovitch, S.; Rapp, K. "Predictors of serious consequences of falls in residential aged care: Analysis of more than 70,000 falls from residents of Bavarian nursing homes." J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 2014.15, 559–563.

Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among seniors.

O’Loughlin J et al. "Incidence of and risk factors for falls and injurious falls among the community-dwelling elderly." American Journal of Epidemiology. 1993, 137:342-54.
Falling once doubles your chances of falling again.
• Doorn, Carol Van, Ann L. Gruber-Baldini, Sheryl Zimmerman, J. Richard Hebel, Cynthia L. Port, Mona Baumgarten, Charlene C. Quinn, George Taler, Conrad May, and Jay Magaziner. “Dementia as a Risk Factor for Falls and Fall Injuries Among Nursing Home Residents.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 51.9 (2003): 1213-218.
• Zhao, Yang, Tzu-Chun Kuo, Sharada Weir, Marilyn S. Kramer, and Arlene S. Ash. “Healthcare Costs and Utilization for Medicare Beneficiaries with Alzheimer.” BMC Health Services Research. Res 8.1 (2008)
• Stark, S. L., C. M. Roe, E. A. Grant, H. Hollingsworth, T. L. Benzinger, A. M. Fagan, V. D. Buckles, and J. C. Morris. “Preclinical Alzheimer Disease and Risk of Falls.” Neurology. 81.5 (2013): 437-43.
Individuals with dementia fall about twice as many times, four on average, as those without dementia.

There has been a

SafelyYou data analysis of ~400 fall videos of detection over 8 weeks of fall data across 23 senior living communities prior to and during COVID-19 shelter-in-place initiatives.

20% INCREASE

in falls since COVID-19

...and falls are expensive

Bergen G, Stevens MR, Burns ER. "Falls and Fall Injuries Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2014." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2016; 65:993–998.

Falls are a leading cause of added healthcare expenditures, especiallyin elderly populations.

• Florence CS, Bergen G, Atherly A, Burns ER, Stevens JA, Drake C. "Medical Costs of Fatal and Nonfatal Falls in Older Adults." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. March 2018,
• Vonnes, C., & Wolf, D. (2017 Oct 31). "Fall risk and prevention agreement: engaging patients and families with a partnership for patient safety." BMJ Open Qual. 2017; 6(2): e000038.

In 2015, the total medical costs for falls was more than $50 billion

• Florence CS, Bergen G, Atherly A, Burns ER, Stevens JA, Drake C. "Medical Costs of Fatal and Nonfatal Falls in Older Adults." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. March 2018,
• Vonnes, C., & Wolf, D. (2017 Oct 31). "Fall risk and prevention agreement: engaging patients and families with a partnership for patient safety." BMJ Open Qual. 2017; 6(2): e000038.
and is estimated to be $67.7 billion in 2020.

2015

2020

$50B

$67.7B

It’s actually a bigger problem than most even realize

Typically, when someone is found on the ground, there are many unknowns. And if they are living with dementia, they often can’t explain what happened.

So what can be done to address falls?

Crogan, N.; Dupler, A. "Quality improvement in nursing homes: Testing of an alarm elimination program." J. Nurs. Care Qual. 2014, 29, 60–65.

Wearables and bed alarms are commonly the first defense in a fall management program. While helpful, these first fall interventions aren’t effective by themselves.

99%

Joint Commission. "Medical device alarm safety in hospitals." Sentinel Event Alert. 2013; (50): 1–3.
Studies have shown that up to 99% of alarms sounding on a unit can be false or insignificant

Top 3 barriers associated with alarms and fall reduction:

Mileski, M.; Brooks, M.; Topinka, J.B.; Hamilton, G.; Land, C.; Mitchell, T.; Mosley, B.; McClay, R. "Alarming and/or Alerting Device Effectiveness in Reducing Falls in Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities? A Systematic Review." Healthcare. 2019, 7, 51.
  • Ineffective as a standalone intervention
Mileski, M.; Brooks, M.; Topinka, J.B.; Hamilton, G.; Land, C.; Mitchell, T.; Mosley, B.; McClay, R. "Alarming and/or Alerting Device Effectiveness in Reducing Falls in Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities? A Systematic Review." Healthcare. 2019, 7, 51.
  • Alarm fatigue by caregiver
Mileski, M.; Brooks, M.; Topinka, J.B.; Hamilton, G.; Land, C.; Mitchell, T.; Mosley, B.; McClay, R. "Alarming and/or Alerting Device Effectiveness in Reducing Falls in Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities? A Systematic Review." Healthcare. 2019, 7, 51.
  • Difficult to implement properly

And actually…

SafelyYou data analysis of ~8,500 fall videos of on-the-ground detected events from 2019-2020 in senior living community bedrooms.

94% of falls are
unwitnessed

SafelyYou data analysis of ~2,700 videos from 2019-2020 of detected, unintentional falls in senior living community bedrooms.

17% of falls are “silent” falls where the resident self-recovers alone

SafelyYou data analysis of ~2,700 videos from 2019-2020 of detected, intentional and unintentional without self-recovery in senior living community bedrooms.

In 30% of falls, the resident moves after the fall before being found

SafelyYou data analysis of ~8,500 fall videos of on-the-ground detected events from 2019-2020 in senior living community bedrooms.

In 23% of falls, the resident intentionally self-lowers without self-recovery

How do we know these statistics if the falls are unwitnessed?

SafelyYou is artificial intelligence-enabled fall detection and prevention for senior living.

Our AI-enabled cameras detect falls with unprecedented accuracy.

SafelyYou data analysis of ~6,000 videos from fall detections in 2020.

SafelyYou has reported 99.6% fall detection accuracy.

Video is recorded only when a fall is detected and care staff in the community are notified to assist immediately.

But it doesn’t stop with fall detection

Subsequent fall review provides caregivers the opportunity to understand the root cause of the fall and put measures in place to avoid the same type of fall from occurring again.
SafelyYou data analysis of videos from fall detections in senior living community bedrooms.
40%
reduction in falls
Glen L. Xiong, MD, Eleonore Bayen, MD, PhD, Shirley Nickels, BS, Raghav Subramaniam, MS, BS, Pulkit Agrawal, PhD, Julien Jacquemot, MSc, BSc, Alexandre M. Bayen, PhD, Bruce Miller, MD, George Netscher, MS, BS. (July 16, 2019) "Real-Time Video Detection of Falls in Dementia Care Facility and Reduced Emergency Care." The American Journal of Managed Care. Volume 25, Issue 7.
80%
reduction in ER visits
Witnessing actual fall on video review will help you conduct a more accurate resident evaluation and avoid costly ER visit. Leverage learnings to keep residents and staff safe.
Consistent, timely fall huddles to review fall details and develop action plans are key to a successful fall management program.
Theresa A Soriano, Linda V DeCherrie, David C Thomas. "Falls in the community-dwelling older adult: A review for primary-care providers." Clin Interv Aging. 2007 Dec; 2(4): 545–553.

SafelyYou is quickly becoming the industry benchmark for fall prevention. We’re proven to drive occupancy, when move-ins are at an all-time low given the pandemic.

Although it is impossible to prevent 100% of falls in senior housing communities, you can partner with SafelyYou to develop an effective program to reduce falls and even increase occupancy rates, when move-ins are at an all-time low due to the pandemic.

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The Inaugural

2022 State of
Falls Report

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Transformative Change

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Remove the guesswork from unwitnessed falls.

Customers using SafelyYou have seen:

  • A 40% reduction in falls
  • 80% reduction in the need for EMS
  • 99% accuracy

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