#58 – Preventing Falls Through Strength and Connection
Trina Filan:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Talking H ealth in the 406 where we're one community under the Big Sky I'm Trina filing a public health evaluator for diabetes and cardiovascular health programs and I'm Margaret Mullins the determinants of health program manager today we're going to learn about some programs available across the state. For falls prevention we have some great guests joining us including Melissa Dale program manager for the Montana arthritis and falls prevention program. Mercedes Taylor and McCartney Earl who are emergency medical technicians or EMT 's at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital in Glasgow and Sharon who is a vigorous participant in falls prevention programs in Glasgow and has a lot of good things to say. About her experiences. Welcome everyone can you tell us a little bit about yourselves Melissa let me start with you.
Melissa Dale:
Hi my name is Melissa Dale I am the program manager for the Montana arthritis and the falls prevention program and so one of the things that we do with our program is we are working with local organizations across Montana to offer falls prevention classes so community classes. Such as. Stay active and independent for life sale stepping on Tai chi for arthritis and falls prevention and a new one that's coming in called bingo size.
Trina Filan:
Bingo size.
Melissa Dale:
Yes it's bingo and exercise combined together.
Margaret Mullins:
Sounds super fun.
Trina Filan:
Oh my gosh.
Melissa Dale:
So coming soon.
Trina Filan:
I definitely want to learn more about that ladies in Glasgow go ahead and tell us just a little bit about yourselves.
Mercedes Taylor:
My name is Mercedes Taylor and I've been with the ambulance service here for about 5 years now we've been doing the stay active and independent for life here for. Or years. And we've seen some. Real great benefits for our participants.
Macartney Earl:
I'm Macartney Earl I have been in Glasgow for about 7 years now and with EMS for about 6 years I have been helping with both stepping on and sale in our community and like Mercedes said we get to see kind of both sides of how this is affecting our community as far. Because the EMS side of it when we're going to respond to these people that have had falls well as the prevention side of. It as well.
Trina Filan:
Great we'll talk more about that in a little bit that's going to be a very cool topic to cover and how about you sharing a little bit about yourself.
Sharon Weston:
Well I moved to Montana about 22 years ago and I've lived here in Glasgow that that amount of time and finding this class was the best thing for me. It's it's really been helpful and I've met a lot of really great people and McCartney and Mercedes are really delight we love them.
Trina Filan:
Excellent thank you very much we are going to get in to the nitty gritty. On this topic so thank you all for joining us today yes thank you.
Margaret Mullins:
So as a way of background we likely all know someone who has experienced the repercussions of a fall falls are a very common issue for aging populations and as more baby boomers age this topic and our resources become even more important for instance nationally one in 4 Americans aged 65 and older. Fall each year and in Montana the rate is even higher with nearly one in 3 montanans greater than 65 years old that fall. Manually we also know that each year there are about 3,000,000 emergency department visits due to older people falls and there are about 1,000,000 fall related hospitalizations among older adults also falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries and it's not just older people who are at risk. Others include people with lower body weakness with chronic health conditions like arthritis diabetes and heart conditions. Those with impairments that make it hard to navigate or identify obstacles and those who take medications that cause dizziness or drowsiness or who are afraid of falling environmental hazards like tripping hazards or lack of handrails also increase a person 's chances of falling by tripping or slipping and data from the Montana behavioral risk factor surveillance survey and this is from 2020. Or show that falling one time double s your chances of falling again. So Melissa can you just tell us more about why falls are such a concern and why prevention is so. Important.
Melissa Dale:
That's a great question like you mentioned here in Montana we have higher rates of falls nearly one in 3 older adults fall each year and falling is the leading cause of unintentional injuries and older adults both nonfatal and fatal and so with the injuries. It's very it's a huge spectrum of what people can experience some people fall and don't get injured which is great however they do have a. I'm emotional fear after that because it did a very traumatic experience falling down the other things that we people can see is experiences. Minor injuries from bruising and scrapes and cuts from to more like sprains people could have broken bones from falling surprisingly 95% of hip fractures are from a fall. And then as you mentioned also Margaret is is leading cause of traumatic brain injury and it also unfortunately for some people that can be fatal thing I want to know is although we do see this with older adults falling is not a normal part of aging. However we see. With older adults at higher risk just due to their physiological changes in their body there's so many different things but one of the main things that's happening is you start losing muscle density as early as age 30 when you hit age 50 it's a little quicker but by age 70. Your muscle density is rapidly declining and so that actually puts you at risk for falling however it is not a normal part of aging.
Margaret Mullins:
That's great information I am and instead of looking at some information for this podcast actually I saw there was a link on the DP HHS website for a confidential falls risk assessment which I thought was really interesting and we'll be sure to include that link with the other resources that will be made available.
Margaret Mullins:
On the podcast website.

Melissa Dale:
Yeah and just to kind of talk a little about that the National Council on aging has created what's called the falls free check up and so anybody can go on see what their risk is for falling and I just want to let people know it's free it's quick and it's anonymous so it's 13 yes and no questions it's pretty quick less than 5 minutes it is online. And then at the end it will tell you if you are at risk and then what your risk factors are and what you can do to help mitigate those risk factors and then if you want more information then you can put your e-mail in so the really cool thing is you can get your information before you even have to put any of your personal information in there.
Trina Filan:
I really appreciate that this is not just about the challenges that are presented when people are at risk of falling right this is about preventing falls from happening in the first place and you mentioned several really great programs that we've got in. Montana can you talk to us about the prevention programs that we have available and you know what's different about each of them why are they each great to have available.
Melissa Dale:
So the different programs that we have we support 4 evidence based programs evidence based meaning that these programs are proven to work to help prevent falling so my first one is stay active and independent for life sale is the acronym for that. This is mainly an exercise program that has been developed for older adults in mind you can do this program sitting or standing. The sale program is mainly an exercise program with a little bit of education at the end our second program that we have is called stepping on the stepping on program this is a 7 week educational program with a little bit of exercise our 3rd program. Is Tai chi for arthritis and falls prevention we've actually just brought this in about 2 years ago so it's very exciting to see this coming into Montana so this particular Tai chi is actually what we call the soon style so it's more of a gentle upright movement so you're not getting low to the ground you're actually staying up? And just using gentle movements like you're kind of in the water moving around. And then that program runs either 8 or 16 weeks depending on the organization and then last we are bringing in a new one called bingo size which is game bingo and we're adding exercise together so with the bingo size program you actually get to play the game bingo. You do 4 rolls of the bingo game and then you everybody gets up and does some exercises or actually. Pretty basic easy exercises you do 3 exercises then you sit back down you go through the bingo roll you do that for about an hour there's several people who win bingo games with that so it's a fun interactive but get a little exercise in that program so those are our 4 programs that we support through the Montana falls prevention. Program and we work with local organizations all throughout Montana so we have a community guide map that you can look to see where they're these classes are being offered so we are all away from plywood to Dillon Montana and even Glasgow as we were talking with the the Glasgow individuals.
Trina Filan:
And it sounds like these programs are they don't take a whole year to go through it's just a few weeks you can participate and then can you take the class again if you want to.
Melissa Dale:
Absolutely yes so each of the classes the longest one being 16 weeks which was the Tai chi class but all the classes are from like 7 to 16 weeks so they're not a full full years not a lot of. Commitment and yes absolutely you're more than welcome to come back to class to class to class and we love that we love having people wanting to continue to stay in classes and not only are they helping stay stronger and preventing those falls but it's also a great social connections with. With your community.
Trina Filan:
Yes when so Margaret and I went on a road trip a few weeks ago in Glasgow was one of the places we visited but every single place we stopped had a SAIL program and. It was lauded as a great way not only to help older folks get some exercise and get some knowledge but also as a great way for folks to get together. Or talk build community and it was just generally thought of thought of as a great offering.
Margaret Mullins:
Yeah hands down such people loved it.
Trina Filan:
Yeah and people were really interested in the other ones as well so these seem to be really accessible and exciting offerings. Melissa you also work with the arthritis program and Margaret mentioned that people with arthritis are more prone to falls can you talk just a little bit about how falls prevention and arthritis programming work together to improve people 's well-being.
Melissa Dale:
We talked about people who are at risk for falling and people who are at risk for falling as I mentioned older. Faults adults who have a chronic health condition which includes arthritis is a chronic health condition adults who have disability are at higher risk for falling and then also people who live in rural areas but for people who have arthritis arthritis is a chronic health condition also. Arthritis is the number one cause of disability so those put 2 big risk factors for people because. As you have arthritis depending where it's actually stiffening up your joints and your ability to move around freely and so then you're more likely to be able to follow and actually say people who have chronic health conditions are 3 and a half more times likely to fall than somebody without a chronic health condition. One thing I forgot to mention. As men and women are equally likely to fall so both men and women it's about 5050 chance whether they fall however we see women become injured from a fall more frequently than men that's partly because of our body makeup we have wider hips and then also because we're more likely to have osteoporosis. As we age and so we typically see women more likely to be injured after a fall.
Trina Filan:
Thanks Melissa I do want to note that anyone listening to this podcast can hear more about arthritis and arthritis prevention programs in episode 54 of this podcast so thank you very much Melissa for that awesome overview.
Margaret Mullins:
Now let's just kind of get into some of the specifics as Trina mentioned we visited Glasgow a few weeks ago and it's not a huge. Town is it. In fact it's been cited as the official. Or middle of nowhere by researchers at Oxford University but that doesn't seem like it's daunted people there though since there's a cheeky sort of coffee shop downtown with a patio at the intersection of middle and nowhere and it seems like people just sort of take that title in stride. And there are just a lot of cool things happening in Glasgow and you can really tell that people care about their community there. And so this question is for all of you last wegens tell us about your community and why falls prevention programming sort of fits well there we can start with any of you.
Macartney Earl:
False prevention is a huge thing in our community a large portion of our community is 65 and older so kind of falls into that category there and we see a lot of instances on the ambulance and through our EMS program. We see falls fractures traumatic brain injuries sprains scrapes you name it it all kind of comes with the territory of our people falling so it's kind of been our mission to try and reduce some of those falls I have some data on what we've been able to do with that when we first started our program the first year we started the programs we had. 71 EMS calls related to falls we have reduced that number within the last year to 47. Then. Wow so that's been a huge improvement that's amazing amazing yeah so that's been really great to see kind of the driving forces to why we continue to do what we do as long as we're able to do it.
Macartney Earl:
I don't have to call and say hey I've fallen and I can't get up they did come and help. I mean. A couple times he taught me how to fall.
Trina Filan:
That's great so that's part of it right you are you need to prepare if you do fall so go.
Macartney Earl:
Ahead the the instructor showed us how to get up if we you know that one couldn't I've had surgery knee replacement. I'm real worried about that that was a long time ago 56 years but this has been wonderful I just can't. I've never been to every class I could go to since I did it I've been to both of them and they're both so beneficial and making you aware of things around your house that you need to change because they're. Going to make you fall someday possibly. I am much more aware and I am doing much better.
Trina Filan:
That that is great you know Sharon my grandma. She. Was doing great living independently until she had her first fall which was related to a cat and she was trying to chase her cat down to get him in his cage and that first fall was sort of the thing that? Kept her bawling and so and she didn't take advantage of the classes that were definitely available in her area. And so it's really great to know that you have a resource that can build your confidence even if you're a little bit concerned because you had a knee replacement you still have confidence to move around you can recognize trip and fall obstacles. In your home and deal with those so it sounds like you've you've gotten a lot of good. Pledge.
Macartney Earl:
I've gotten a lot of good knowledge and I know to take my cane if I go out in the backyard because my backyard is real bumpy and and I I need to have my phone with me and I you know I I'm much more aware and I do live alone and I'm 83 and. I'm pretty proud of.
Margaret Mullins:
Yeah Mercedes do you have anything to add to the conversation.
Mercedes Taylor:
I just think with our sale classes you can see how their confidence builds throughout the class their balance improves and. You can just. See them getting more and more confident each time and then by the end of class they're ready to go.
Macartney Earl:
We actually have a participant that could barely walk himself into class the very first day of class very off balance very unsteady on his feet and by the end of it he was standing on one foot he was walking like he was walking on a balance beam just incredible improvements.
Wow.
Margaret Mullins:
That's incredible it's. So satisfying to be able to do a class I think often you don't necessarily get to see all the benefits that a class can provide and it sounds like yours has some real tangible benefits that that can show up in real time.
Macartney Earl:
Yeah it's been great.
Trina Filan:
Umm. So Frances Mahon is one of the larger hospitals in northeastern Montana and I'm sure that there are folks.
Yes.
Trina Filan:
From all over the place in that region that come to receive services why is it important for regional hospitals like yours to offer services like sale and stepping on.
Macartney Earl:
With our real geographic area I think it's super important that we keep up with these classes because sometimes help isn't coming right away we have a very large area that we cover and if we can first of all prevent the fall and then second get education out there about what to do next if they do have a fall as far as how to get up. How to you know tips and tricks on calling 911 whatever we can do to kind of improve that process all around is kind of our goal with this whole program and like I said being in such a rural area help isn't always close so being able to prevent it altogether? That's great.
Margaret Mullins:
Thank you for that I have a question this is for Mercedes and McCartney you're both empts and I just wondered if you could just talk to us a little bit about how facilitating a health promotion program or programs aligns with your work and emergency services more specifically.
Mercedes Taylor:
Well with our area about 26% of our population is 65 and older so we have. A great deal of. Geriatric individuals that we get called to whatever. Their issue may be so with falls we try to encourage them. To find a way to become stronger or prevent falls around the home and just strengthen themselves so that they are able to continue living in their home. We also try to educate them on how to. Prepare for these falls if they do happen in how they would call dispatch for the fall and. Even preparing for EMS to be able to come. Into their homes easily.
Can?
Trina Filan:
You give some examples about that for example do you help folks kind of organize their furniture so that there's a path or what do you mean by EMS getting in more easily to a home.
Mercedes Taylor:
Well one thing we recommend with our elderly individuals is having a keypad on their on their locks instead of just having a key that way they can give that number to dispatch and we are able to easily get in another thing is having an old phone charged underneath the couch.
Ah.
Mercedes Taylor:
Or something or a piece of furniture in the case that they do fall without their phone there's a way they can still call 911 for help.
Trina Filan:
Oh those are really good ideas.
Keeping people.
Trina Filan:
In their homes. Is a really important goal in well in lots of places but especially in rural areas that feels like it's whenever we've talked with other guests about health related prevention issues and chronic disease prevention? Being independent staying in your home. Are our goals that lots of people have rural or urban umm can you talk a little bit about? Why that is so important to folks and how what you do helps them? Well sometimes.
Mercedes Taylor:
Especially here because we're so rural. We have one nursing home here. And our wait times to get into the nursing home can be quite significant so people. Sometimes have to stay in the hospital until they can get a room to the nursing home we also we have one assisted living home here so it's not. Easy to get into these places and we don't have. As many resources as an urban area would such as.
Hmm.
Mercedes Taylor:
Meals on Wheels or general things for. Your activities of daily living that somebody would do if they. Needed some assistance.
Trina Filan:
Sharon how do you feel about being able to stay active and independent in your own home.
Macartney Earl:
I just love it I've gotten stronger when I first started going to the class they said something about your core strength and I thought I don't have any but I do now I've been doing this for you know a couple of years or as long as they've been doing it. And I have core strength and I can even hold my my you know stomach in and I can flex. Because I used to deliver mail I I walked a lot and I I've been retired since 2004 and I was gaining weight and I was just sitting around and that's not good so I didn't even go on a diet or anything but. All of a sudden I was losing weight just a little bit at a time. And now I weigh 37 pounds less than I did 3 years ago without dieting.
Margaret Mullins:
Amazing amazing and you attribute a lot of that to the sale course.
Macartney Earl:
All of it. All because I didn't change a thing. And I also I also have a home with 3 bedrooms and a dog and a cat now I just got a puppy and it's wonderful how brave of you know wonderful. For a week I thought I wasn't gonna be able to keep that little girl but she's wonderful and I ought to keep myself aware of where she is. Because of all the tips I've gotten from the people that teach our classes it's invaluable I've made such improvements and I've met people that I will be friends with forever.
Margaret Mullins:
Well that's great to hear I think that's such a huge benefit of these classes that social aspect and also sharing with the challenges are and you know when you're not in class having an opportunity to talk to people and figure out new ways always to be you know safer and stronger so that's really good to hear.
Macartney Earl:
Yes. I just decided you know I was going to do it and now I just make sure that I get there so I can sign in quickly enough because the classes are always full and I just don't want to miss out on any of them.
Margaret Mullins:
And so when you tell some of the people you know and friends that you're taking this class what do you say to them.
Macartney Earl:
I just tell him it's the best thing that's happened since I've been retired I feel much better physically and mentally especially mentally. OK.
Margaret Mullins:
Great information I think that people you know you're sort of a walking advertisement for the class because you have found so many benefits yourself and can kind of spread that news.
Macartney Earl:
And I tell people believe me I tell people.
And.
Trina Filan:
You've gotten a few people to participate with you.
Macartney Earl:
Oh well I've gotten a couple to start doing it also.
Margaret Mullins:
Excellent.
Macartney Earl:
Yeah it's and everybody feels the same way I do.
Trina Filan:
I think that's. Really important you know word of mouth and knowing that somebody you know has had a good experience. Taking a class because sometimes it could be a little intimidating when you first walked into your class how did. You feel about that.
Macartney Earl:
I thought I will never be able to get going like these people and they're really gentle on the first day you know but I didn't think I was going to ever catch up. But I really. The thing that I'm having the most trouble with this balance and I think that's because I have it bad ear so I don't hear the same and I also have arthritis but I'm doing fine I I don't usually use the cane unless I'm outside. And rough terrain. Than I do.
Trina Filan:
So we want to now taking care of yourself for looking for the hazards that could cause you problems making sure that you take something that can help you navigate those challenges so that you can avoid falls.
Macartney Earl:
And I think about where I'm going to park ahead of time that's stuff that they make you think about. In the class they're just it's. So good for people I I. Really helped a lot of people will.
Trina Filan:
Do it and have you gotten any feedback from your friends you've gotten to take the courses as well?
Macartney Earl:
Oh yeah they're so glad that I told them about it and they show up. All the time all I could just talk forever about this there's so many good things to say.
Trina Filan:
Mercedes so you facilitate sale so can you tell us about that what was it like getting trained to lead it what is the class like what are the things that you teach people and how do you keep people engaged all that stuff.
Mercedes Taylor:
So I did the. Class in Fairmont a couple years ago McCartney had already started it at this point and. It was too big of a hit so we needed more instructors. Which we have needed more instructors since then too?
Wow.
Mercedes Taylor:
But we've had. Just about 450 sale classes here and we've had 247 participants in these classes. So. We start the class with. The first most important thing for the class is the right music if they don't have the right music they are not going to. Be into it that day. So we have a playlist that we kind of go off of more upbeat.
Margaret Mullins:
Just.
Mercedes Taylor:
Ones that Sharon and her crew dance to half the time nice so we start just by warming up and then we'll go into an aerobics section where we. Get their hearts pumping a little bit more. And then after that we cool down and we get into our balance section. So we just. Work on different things with their balance like tightrope walking standing on one leg so they feel more comfortable. And then after that we get into a strength section we have. One to 6 pound weights that. Each participant can use these were donated to us by the Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital foundation and they have been incredible our participants love them a lot of them have been able to increase their weights throughout the duration of the course. And then after our strength section we. Do a pull down section and? Finish up the class.
Trina Filan:
So do you do those things in each class like you do all of those things in each class or do you have like one class dedicated to aerobics another to balance or you mix it up.
Mercedes Taylor:
Nope each class is consists of all of those sections we also try to give them at least one fun fact or tip to prevent falls at the end. Of each class.
Trina Filan:
And that's where the handy charged cell phone under a piece of furniture or having a keypad instead of a lock on your door so you can tell EMS what to expect and how to get in that's where those kinds of tips. Come in correct.
Margaret Mullins:
You mentioned having a lot of people that want to participate in these classes and in fact you could probably use more instructors. In a in smaller communities I think maybe finding instructors and also places to hold these classes can be sort of an issue I'm wondering what kind of locations you use to hold your classes so we are currently holding our classes at the Senior Center here in Glasgow they have been.
Mercedes Taylor:
So generous to donate the area to us to be able to use.
Macartney Earl:
It's been really good to be able. To. Host our classes there we kind of tend to offer them toward. The mid morning right before lunch on our Senior Center actually offers lunches daily so a lot of our participants they come they do the class and then they kind of walk over to the other side and can join everybody else over there for the senior citizens lunch that's offered.
Trina Filan:
Oh that's really good that's good and it serves double duty so that the people who are not participating can go. Want to do that. Alright so nice nice advertisement. Mercedes did you want to say anything. Else about sale.
Mercedes Taylor:
We have so many people that are spreading the word getting it out there that last class we had about 25 people on. Our wait list that's great.
Margaret Mullins:
Hey that's a good problem.
Mercedes Taylor:
Just due to our space limitations and. How many eyes we can keep on people we have to limit our? Participants how many people are in ideal number for a class like sale we try to keep about 20 participants per instructor.
Trina Filan:
OK so that you can make sure. That folks are. Doing balance exercises properly or lifting their weights the right way that kind of stuff and you said you need to have enough eyes on all the folks.
Mercedes Taylor:
Yep we've had a couple participants before that have had some increased struggles with balance so we've had one extra person there just to keep an eye on those people specifically but. In general we have about one person for 20 participants.
Trina Filan:
And McCartney you have facilitated both stepping on and sale and and I know that you guys haven't offered stepping on in a while but can you talk a little bit about that class and how it works.
Macartney Earl:
Stepping on is another class that we offer you know we kind of talked about a little bit earlier. It's more of an educational class and then with a little bit of exercise added into it and this class is really good for. Or. Teaching folks how to be more aware of their surroundings how to protect themselves from falls this is where we teach them actually how to get up from falls we even go as far as we bring big gymnastics mats down and we have patients get down on the floor and we have physical therapy on that comes and actually works with each individual patient about how to get up. And what to do when we do find ourselves on the ground that class is typically a little bit smaller we usually try and do about only 6 or 7 participants per class just because it's a little bit more focused driven and we kind of need to just keep it keep it a little bit smaller and concentrated so. We've offered over 50 stepping on classes and we've had 56 people partake in those classes for both stepping on and sale we've had participant travel 86 miles round trip for classes so that's our furthest furthest traveler. So the word really is getting out there across our whole rural community which is really great. I'm stepping on has had really great buy in from other members of our community we have nurse practitioners that have come in to speak during these classes our pharmacists from the hospital or PT program has been a great partner in doing these classes we have a eye doctor in town that donates her time to come. Speak with class. So we've had really great buy in from multiple entities.
Margaret Mullins:
That is amazing collaboration when you can have community partners participating in their own ways in these programs and Glasgow you know not only is it beneficial to everybody in the community but it just it makes it so much more cohesive and I think that's incredible that you have that kind of participation.
Macartney Earl:
We also have. Primary care providers that you know will see a patient and recommend them come to this class nice or they'll send us a message that says hey we'd like to get this person enrolled in your programs so that's been too good 2 we've had some buy in. From that side as well.
Trina Filan:
Yeah that's really important often I think having your primary care provider really strongly support you participating in a program and knowing that they're going to check on you and they want you to to take something like that is an added incentive sometimes to to go that's really cool.
How?
Margaret Mullins:
So all of this kind of prompts me to think it was mentioned that it's been a little hard to find more instructors and maybe finding space is also the issue but if someone 's listening to our podcast and they're interested in reading these classes can you tell us a little bit about how someone who they would get in touch with and. How they would get trained?
Melissa Dale:
For getting trained for any of the programs that I have mentioned from bingo size sales stepping on and Tai chi we offer at least one or sometimes 2 trainings a year we put the training announcements on the website so you can go to the Montana falls. Prevention program and within there there'll be a list of. Trainings and when they're available as far as the trainings we cover the cost of the training we usually like to try and do in person and if we do an in person we actually cover the cost of the hotel room too and then those who are traveling we'll just have to cover the cost of their own food and then the gas mileage to the location that you have to train so. You would work with myself and my team and we would get you guys trained depending on the program that you're looking at some of them do have some prerequisites so we would be more than happy to chat with and make sure you're a great fit for these class.
Yes.
Margaret Mullins:
So it sounds like you don't necessarily have to work in healthcare. To be able to lead the. Classes.
Melissa Dale:
Great question no you do not have to work in healthcare in fact over in Livingston one of our Tai chi instructors over there. Volunteer and he's been amazing at it and been going up for several years like I mentioned we. Work with a variety of organizations from the Montana State University. Extension offices to local hospitals to health department so a whole range or even actually starting to tap into working with local parks and rec departments across Montana because they are seeing that we need to work with the whole lifespan not just children and so they're bringing a lot of these classes. So if you feel intimidated by going to like a hospital setting you might have it in your park and rec so there's a very wide range of who's offering these workshops.
Trina Filan:
Thank you Melissa. So if there's anything anybody would like to add. This is your time.
Macartney Earl:
There was something that I wanted to add when they were talking about. Letting the emergency people know how to get into their house. You don't have to get a keypad you can let the dispatch person know where you hide your key and that's what I've done so if they need to get in my house there's a.
Margaret Mullins:
Key it's a great idea.
Trina Filan:
All right.
Margaret Mullins:
And that's excellent.
Trina Filan:
Sharing information with your trusted emergency personnel so that you can get help when you need it yeah right.
Macartney Earl:
Goes for fire and law enforcement as well you know if dispatch has that information each you know each address each person in the community basically has their own. Card at dispatch and so anytime somebody calls something in regarding somebody specific they'll have all that information so they'll have the person 's address their phone number you give them that information then they'll be able to relay those things on to us so as far as where's your hide a key is what your garage code is whatever we can do to get into your house. Yes is going to save you from a broken door a broken window because as emergency responders we have to be able to get to you on the least amount of time down on the floor is what we're looking for a lot more injuries can be caused by actually laying on the floor for prolonged periods of time so we talked about that we also talked about setting up some sort of a buddy notification system with a friend or family so that there's a daily check in whether it be a cell. Phone call a text you tell your neighbors hey every morning by 10:00 AM my windows should be up something like that so they know if something 's off or they don't hear from you they know to send help so every day we try and. Get people to think about setting a system up.
Mercedes Taylor:
Like that and with the dispatch telling them where your things are you are able to. Call them and ask them to add that to your addresses card prior to an event happening so if something were to happen and your life alert. Notifies them that you fell and they aren't getting a response from you they'll still be able to tell us how we can get into that house.
Trina Filan:
Just to clarify it sounds like most 911 dispatch centers can attach your key code directly to your homes address profile so that first responders can get in. Fast but it's important to remember that every agency has its own rules and expiration dates for that kind of authorization so listeners you'll want to call your local department 's non-emergency line I think that's important to remember their non-emergency line. To ask how they handle it in your location.
Macartney Earl:
And like Mercedes mentioned you know a lot of times this life alerts or you know even now our watches and our smartphones can detect a fall and then people always say well I'll just tell them how to get into my house I'll tell them the code when I. Call them you could be unresponsive your phone could be not working you could be in the other room from your phone it's tough to always know that you're going to be alert and responsive so to have them have that information ahead of time before you get in a situation like that is super helpful.
Trina Filan:
Thank you very much for that clarification I'm also wondering if you could just briefly mention what kinds of trip and fall hazards are common in homes that people can sort. Preemptively watch out for.
Macartney Earl:
Some of the bigger fall hazards that we like to talk about especially during stepping on we have multiple classes that cover this but. Rugs that aren't secured to the floor areas of the house that have poor lighting so staircases things like that animals. Furniture positioning cords to computers phone chargers lamps all of that kind of stuff needs to be off of the floor. Melissa can you think of any others that we cover in stepping on.
Melissa Dale:
You highlighted a lot of them there but on big one you mentioned chords was oxygen cords being aware if you have to have oxygen cords being aware of what those are located but yes one of the things I did want to mention is over half of the falls that happen. And Montana are from what we call a same level fall so that's either a slip trip or a. Tumble I have to admit before I start the falls prevention world I just assume people were just falling off ladders and stairs all over the place and that's only about 7% so almost half of over half of the falls are from slips trips and stumbles and that's a lot due to not being able to pick. Up your feet. And so making sure you're getting your foot is actually picking up and not dragging on the floor.
Margaret Mullins:
Yeah the shuffling can be I know a difficult thing to overcome once you're sort of in that pattern.
Trina Filan:
Yeah are there any exercises that folks can work on specifically to help them lift their feet up and try to avoid stumbles is that one of the things that gets. Todd.
Macartney Earl:
Yeah that's one of our exercises that we do in sale every day we practice going up on our tippy toes and holding those and then we also practice the opposite of that which is pulling up on your toes and looking those off the ground which that's going to strengthen those muscles that help you pick your foot up every time you take the. Step.
Trina Filan:
Sharon when you. First learned that how was that exercise.
Macartney Earl:
Well it's a really good one and I I've gotten a lot better about walking and not falling but I have you know. Slipped on ice and things like that.
Trina Filan:
Yeah that's the universal slip hazard for all montanans.
Mercedes Taylor:
Indeed.
Margaret Mullins:
Right.
Macartney Earl:
Living where we live we've come up with some pretty creative ways and this actually came from one of our participants but she actually she keeps a 5 gallon bucket of sand and gravel by her door and she fills up a little plastic water bottle every time she leaves her house and she sprinkles it in front of her as she walks across the ice so which gives her traction all. The way across the ice.
Trina Filan:
That's so smart.
Margaret Mullins:
Yeah that's that's great idea yeah yeah to be a really creative in Montana. Yes comes to the winter. The reason I was hearing about slips trips and stumbles and I was when you were talking about having music during class it just occurred to me that someone should write a song called slips trips and stumbles and play it in class. It would be perfect so very good information.
Trina Filan:
Yes thank you so much is there anything else. You'd like to talk about.
Melissa Dale:
I guess I have a few things that I would like to add in but there are 4 top things to do to help to help prevent falls the first one is actually being physically active this is the number one thing to do to prevent falls we're just talking about some of those exercises so those heel raises and toe raises will help lift up your feet better. So you're not going to fall we actually found individuals who report exercise in the last 30 days have actually had a 26%. Increase chance of falling making sure you go in and have an annual eye and hearing exam and making sure you're updating that prescription so you obviously when you if you can't see then you're more likely to trip over something but even if you're not able to hear if you have somebody come up behind you and startle you that can actually put you at. Increased chance of fall. And then umm reviewing your medications with your healthcare provider or pharmacist every year because they can actually see if you have any medications that you might need to somebody cations make you drowsy so they'll say make sure you take this in the evening other medications they might be fine but they interact with another one so they'll. So make sure you keep these 2 apart as you're taking your medications and then lastly is that environmental being aware of the rugs being aware of those pets cords any dark areas in your home so those are the top 4 things to do to help prevent fall. Walls.
Macartney Earl:
Most times people when we go to see them on the ambulance you know we ask them hey what kind. Of medications do. You take very very rarely do patients include. Their supplements in that list. Supplements are a huge thing and they are things that need to be included when you talk to your provider or you talk to your pharmacist because they can cause interactions with the other medications that you take so making sure that you're aware of bringing that up to your provider bringing that up to your pharmacist as well as in today's time. People use a lot of different pharmacies you know they might get something filled on Amazon 's online pharmacy and then they might get something filled at your local pharmacy so making sure that you constantly keep all pharmacies up to date is really important so that when they run those interaction checks they have a current up to date list of all of your medications and all of your supplements to really make sure that you are. Optimizing your health.
Trina Filan:
That is really excellent information thank you very much.
Mercedes Taylor:
One of our participants that we've had throughout the class she had a bone density scan at the start of class she did class for 2 years and had another bone density scan and it noted some significant improvements in her bone density. Requiring her to not have to take medications for it anymore.
Speaker 7
Wow holy cow seriously that's an impressive improvement that really is that's fantastic.
Macartney Earl:
One of the things they recommend for osteopenia and osteoporosis is weight bearing exercises so she's been a faithful participant for the entirety of our classes and has had awesome results. I'm not.
Trina Filan:
Ah that's a really great result for your participant and I'll bet there are as you said there is a gentleman who participated who had terrible balance. And now is much better and much improved in balance is one of the one of the important parts of staying upright so.
Margaret Mullins:
So many positive outcomes I really appreciate the feedback on this and and also the personal stories.
Macartney Earl:
And I know Sharon touched on the social side of it as well but just about every participant has. Mentioned that and brought that up to us in class that you know we we've taken some breaks in between sessions and they are chomping at the bit to get back at it once we start again they say this is the the best social interaction it gets them out of the house it gets them moving they're not seeing as much depression and they're in their days and it's really improving. Their mental health as well as their physical. Health.
Trina Filan:
It's interesting that having an organized way of getting together. Is sort of the impetus for helping folks feel better right having it be an organized I I have to go to do this so that I you know I have to be there it's a different experience for folks?
Macartney Earl:
Yeah there's some commitment to it that I think people are proud of once they complete the course and you know move on to the next course. We try and make all of our classes and all of our interactions fun upbeat environment and we actually I think it was last summer we after class we had a big 50s sock hop so all the participants that have ever participated in any of our classes were invited dress up was encouraged. I mean we had poodle skirts we had an Elvis impersonator we had just about everything we had ice cream social bar we we did it up so they really enjoyed. The social side of things as well.
Trina Filan:
Oh that sounds very good.
Macartney Earl:
It's just wonderful and I just wanted to mention. It has improved my bone density also.
Trina Filan:
How's it yeah?
Margaret Mullins:
Nice. Glad to hear that yeah.
Trina Filan:
Well that's good you seem like you have just you are the sales superheroine of this story.
Macartney Earl:
With our stepping on superhero too she's done it. All.
Margaret Mullins:
Wow that is fantastic we had when Trina and I did our trip to the highline I'm a couple months ago we talked to somebody in the that's leading one of the sale classes and they were talking about that sense of community that one gets and the fact. But because people are returned participants and enjoy it so much and know each other so well over time when one participant isn't there they will sort of be a collective conversation about where they might be and might they be OK and so checking on up on each.
Macartney Earl:
Other everyone's really good about that you know some. Some people like to sit in specific spots so if if the person next to him notices that you know their buddies not there they're usually calling to check in you know if we as instructors notice a pattern in somebody 's attendance we reach out and make sure everything 's. OK as well. We recently lost a participant that had been pretty faithful to our programs and it rocked everyone's world everyone.
Was?
Macartney Earl:
Pretty bummed so the the sense of community and the friendships that are built you know you all after class you hear them chit chatting about who's going to go get coffee and who's going to go get lunch and you know it extends way past what we offer in that one hour class.
Trina Filan:
Yeah you know I was doing some reading about montanas rural hospitals a couple of years ago and someone did some research on the people who live in frontier and rural areas and and their willingness to drive. To a quality healthcare experience right if even if they have to go past their local healthcare provider in order to get to some place they really trust and really feel comfortable with and it it feels like these classes like sale. And stepping on add community and quality and probably increase participants trust in the system.
Mercedes Taylor:
Yeah we do see that a lot. With our ambulance calls. Just one of us responding having a familiar face there somebody that they're used to on a weekly basis can make things a lot less scary for them in those situations so just being able to get to know them is super beneficial too.
Trina Filan:
MMM stronger community.
Macartney Earl:
I moved here from Southern California. And I have never had such good medical care I've been in this hospital I had my knee surgery done here there's just nothing I have to say that isn't good about every everything I've. Done here I feel so confident and so well taken care of I love it.
Trina Filan:
That's wonderful that's an experience that so many folks are craving right when you are seeking care and when you're seeking community when you know that the people who are offering it are are there with you and want you to be well.
Macartney Earl:
Yes I don't feel like I feel like they're my friends. You know they're the doctor the nurse and. These 2 they're they're just wonderful.
Margaret Mullins:
Oh you can't ask for more than that that's such a great thing to hear Sharon and really kudos to everybody on that team for that kind of action yeah.
Trina Filan:
Yes for providing that kind of experience.
Mercedes Taylor:
And we do love our participants.
Margaret Mullins:
And it shows.
Macartney Earl:
We're very fortunate to be a part of all of their lives.
Margaret Mullins:
And thank you so much to our podcast listeners on behalf of Trina and myself and the crew behind the scenes thank you especially to our fabulous guests for sharing their time and expertise with all of us and if you would like more information on what we discussed today visit our website at talking health in the 406. Dot mt.gov where there will be links to the information that we've discussed and if you haven't already Please remember to rate review and subscribe to our podcast and until next time be healthy and be well.