November is Fall Prevention Month. The mission of Fall Prevention Month is to raise awareness and prevent falls and fall-related injuries. In fact, 20-30% of Canadian seniors fall each year - making falls the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations, and a more significant problem than you might think! The Fall Prevention Month website has lots of great resources to help people of all ages, from children to seniors learn how to take steps to prevent falls. Here are some examples of resources Fall Prevention Month offers.

Too Fit to Fracture This website is awesome in how it recommends exercises to help people with osteoporosis or spinal fractures to help them become stronger. Doing specific exercises to strengthen your muscles can reduce your likelihood of falling, and lowering your risk of getting a fracture if you do fall. The exercise recommendations are simple and easy to follow, and can be done anywhere which is a great option for people who are staying home more due to COVID-19. For the exercise guides, click here.
Rate My Treads This resource was created to help people discern which winter footwear are the best to prevent falls on ice. This is a particularly useful resource for those who experience extremely cold winters in the prairies or northern communities. Shoes and boots get rated based on how well they are able to resist slipping on different types of ice. Check out Rate My Threads for the complete list.
Stairs Stairs, often familiar ones, are a common cause of falls in older people. Researchers have identified three factors that cause people to fall on stairs: steps that are hard to see or distinguish from each other, poor lighting of the staircase, and issues with the steps. By going into the mechanics of how falls on stairs have become so common, researchers are able to present this important information in an easy-to-understand format and offer suggestions on how to fix it. Click here to learn about preventing falls on stairs.

If you have experienced a fall recently, Nightingale offers products like bracing and supports that can help you on your journey of healing. In addition, we have several products to prevent falls, from bed rails to walkers and canes. For more information about Fall Prevention, please visit fallpreventionmonth.ca/about