{"id":200,"date":"2020-11-03T06:05:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T06:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/?page_id=200"},"modified":"2020-11-03T06:06:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T06:06:08","slug":"falls-and-fractures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/professionals\/falls-and-fractures\/","title":{"rendered":"Falls and Fractures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Falls and Fractures: Information for Optometrists<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Falls are a major cause of accidental injury in the elderly. In the UK one in three people over 65\u00a0years of age will fall every year (Falling Standards*) and 90% of hip fractures are due to falls. It is\u00a0accepted that falls are caused by a number of contributory factors which include gait and balance\u00a0problems, underlying systemic conditions (arthritis, postural hypotension, stroke, diabetes and\u00a0Parkinson\u2019s disease), those taking sedatives, those taking multiple medications and\u00a0POOR VISION. (Focus on falls**)<\/p>\n

Role of the Optometrist<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Prevention of falls requires a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. Optometrists have regular\u00a0direct access to the elderly and can advise on falls prevention in relation to vision.<\/p>\n

Optometrists can adapt their history and symptoms questioning, to include the following:***<\/p>\n

-identify patients who present with concerns about falling\/balance or who have a history of falls.<\/p>\n

-find out when patients wear their spectacles and if they feel their mobility is affected by bifocal\/<\/p>\n

PAL wear, on stairs for example.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Management of patients at risk of falls might include;<\/strong><\/h4>\n

-advising regular eye tests.<\/p>\n

-ensuring that the correct spectacles are worn, with written advice if necessary, for carers.<\/p>\n

-conservative changes in prescriptions (not greater than +\/-0.75DS).<\/p>\n

-avoidance of prescribing new bifocal\/PALs to \u201cat risk\u201d patients.<\/p>\n

-consideration of single vision distance or low add multifocals for walking around.<\/p>\n

-refer patients who are visually impaired to have an assessment by the local falls and fracture prevention<\/p>\n

team\/Social Services.<\/p>\n

-advise on early cataract removal or second eye surgery.<\/p>\n

What to do if you feel a patient is at risk of falling?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most CCG areas are developing ways to prevent falls by referring at risk patients to local Falls\u00a0Teams for assessment. The Falls Team might include specialist nurses, occupational therapists\u00a0and physiotherapists.<\/p>\n

Locally \u201cEast Sussex Better Together \u201c which is a programme aiming to integrate health and social\u00a0care in EHS, H&R, and HWLH CCGs and local groups in Brighton & Hove are developing improved\u00a0services to support falls and fracture prevention in the community.<\/p>\n

The College of Optometrists has several useful sources of information for the patient and optometrist\u00a0regarding vision and falls. The College maintains a Falls directory of contact details of\u00a0local Falls Teams. An information leaflet \u201c\u00a0VISIBLE<\/a>\u201d is available, which has excellent sources of\u00a0information for Opticians and other professional groups (see pdf)<\/p>\n

Local procedures and contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Hastings & Rother, Eastbourne CCGs<\/p>\n

Opticians can use the self referral\u00a0Falls Prevention Leaflet<\/a>\u00a0to give to patients at risk of\u00a0falls; the leaflet signposts patients to appropriate services. This is a simple effective procedure.<\/p>\n

A referral can also be made via the HSCC (Health & Social Care Connect) website\u00a0www.eastsussex.gov.uk using the HSCC Referral Form for professionals.<\/p>\n

2. Brighton & Hove<\/p>\n

A referral can be made by any professional with concerns. A referral form can be downloaded from\u00a0the following website:<\/p>\n

Brighton & Hove Osteoporosis and Falls Prevention Service<\/p>\n

website: http:\/\/www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk<\/p>\n

3. High Weald, Lewes & Haven:<\/p>\n

A referral can be made via the HSCC (Health & Social Care Connect) website\u00a0www.eastsussex.gov.uk using the HSCC Referral Form or the patient can complete a self assessment<\/p>\n

at www.eastsussex.gov.uk\/hscc .<\/p>\n

Falls references & information<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1.**The College of Optometrists www.college-optometrists.org\/falls for patient leaflets and references.<\/p>\n

Focus on Falls Report 2014<\/p>\n

2.DOCET: The Ageing Eye<\/p>\n

3.* Falling Standards, broken promises: report of the national audit of falls and bone health in older<\/p>\n

people. (Royal College of Physicians ( 2011)<\/p>\n

4. Age UK: Tel: 0800 1696565 Request \u201cStaying Steady\u201d leaflet<\/p>\n

or www.ageuk.org.uk\/ (under Health and Wellbeing section)<\/p>\n

5.***Falls and vision impairment: guidance for the optometrist. David B Elliott Optometry in Practice<\/p>\n

2012 Vol 13 Issue 2 65-76<\/p>\n

6. NHS Choices: www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/Falls\/Pages\/Prevention.aspx<\/p>\n

7. EHS, H&R, HWLH CCGs: Social Care Direct (SCD) Tel: 0345 6080191<\/p>\n

email socialcaredirect@eastsussex.gov.uk<\/p>\n

For further details on services provided by SCD see<\/p>\n

https:\/\/new.eastsussex.gov.uk\/socialcare\/getting-help-from-us\/contact-adult-social-care<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Falls and Fractures: Information for Optometrists Falls are a major cause of accidental injury in the elderly. In the UK one in three people over 65\u00a0years of age will fall every year (Falling Standards*) and 90% of hip fractures are due to falls. It is\u00a0accepted that falls are caused by a number of contributory factors … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Falls and Fractures”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":0,"parent":27,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-200","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200\/revisions\/201"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/eastsussex-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}