Preventing Falls at Home: A Guide for Somerset & Morris County Seniors

Falls are the leading cause of injury among adults over 65, and the large majority happen at home. The encouraging part is that falling is not an inevitable part of getting older. Most of what drives fall risk can be measured, and most of it can be improved.

Why this assessment belongs in your house

A clinic can test your balance. What a clinic cannot see is the runner in your hallway, the unlit stairwell, the bathroom with nothing to hold onto, or the step down into your garage that is deeper than the rest. When the assessment happens at home, it covers both halves of the problem: your body and the place you actually move through.

What a home fall-risk assessment covers

• Balance and gait testing using standardized, repeatable measures

• Lower-body strength, with particular attention to hips and ankles

• A medication review to flag anything that commonly causes dizziness, for discussion with your physician

• A room-by-room walk-through of your home with specific, practical changes

• A progressive strength and balance program you practice where you live

Changes that actually move the needle

Secure or remove loose rugs. Light the path from your bed to the bathroom. Keep what you use every day between waist and shoulder height so you are not reaching or bending. Add a grab bar where you are already steadying yourself on a towel rack.

But environment alone is not enough. The single best-supported way to reduce fall risk is progressive strength and balance exercise, supervised and advanced over time. Home modifications remove hazards; exercise changes what your body can handle when something unexpected happens.

When to ask for an evaluation

If you have fallen in the past year, feel unsteady on stairs, have started holding furniture as you move through the house, or have quietly stopped doing things you used to do — that is the moment to have it looked at, not after the next fall.

Home PT LLC serves Somerset and Morris Counties in New Jersey — including Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Somerville, Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Warren, Branchburg, Morristown, Madison, Chatham, Randolph, Denville, Parsippany and Mendham.

We are a Medicare Part B in-network provider and there is no homebound requirement. Call (908) 569-6422 to schedule an assessment.