Just don't let Mom walk backwards. Biggest mistake I had made in my 66 years. I'm now 70, and up until that time, had 5 children, au naturel, and had never broken a bone in my body. ;o)

Two words: Occupational Therapy. Call her Dr and ask him/her to order it. They will go to her house, evaluate it, suggest what changes need to be made and teach her a new way of thinking. They will work with her on how to do things so she doesn't put herself at risk. They work with patients on how to get up after a fall. They make their patients think before doing.

I just cleaned my MIL's garage last winter. Bought her a great solution to clutter at Costco. Sturdy enough shelf that will support her weight while reaching for something. Nothing is on the floor anymore.

Now, if we can figure out how to teach her to use a simple cell phone when she gets lost, I'd be grateful.

Consider a button she wears. My MIL's children pay for one and she does wear it. It has been useful for her falls. Really, she could not get up before Occupational therapy.

Hang in there. I know it isn't easy but it is pay back time. He took care of you and now it is your turn. Good idea to reach out for more ideas.

Also, Calcium helps.

I have been dealing with a similar issue for a couple years with my 85 year old MIL. The biggest hurdle to overcome in her case is her stubborn desire for no changes in her life.

You might want to see what kind of shoes she is wearing - you want them neither too slippery nor ones that stick to the floor.

I would sign up my MIL for a "I've Fallen and Can't Get Up" necklace, but I know she would find it annoying some day, take it off and forget it. I'm trying to get a phone installed in her basement so she doesn't have as far to crawl in the event of a fall.

It is so frustrating, we wait for the phone to ring to hear of her next accident.

You might also explore some simple physical therapy. If someone is stiff and achy, they move less. Less movement equals less flexibility, which can equal less ability to regain balance if you trip or stumble. Some simple exercises might make all the difference--after my father fell and broke his hip, in addition to the therapy required to get his leg/hip back into working order, he was given a set of about 4 or 5 stretches to do 5 days a week for the rest of his life. I think they took all of 10 minutes to do, but the physical therapist explained that they would help him stay flexible and aid in his balance.

Years ago I read that a huge problem & a cause of many falls for the elderly is a diminished sense of balance. The article suggested that we all start practicing and increasing our ability to maintain balance. One suggestion was to stand on one foot while brushing your teeth.

That idea won't help your Mom, but the rest of us might benefit if we all start working on improving our balance now.

Remove all throw rugs. I think they are one of the biggest causes of tripping and falling for the elderly.

I just tried to stand on one foot while brushing my teeth. I couldn't do it.

Try bending your other leg a bit.

The difference between physical and occupational therapy is the therapist evaluates the home environment. Maybe Mom puts her shoes on sitting on her bed. Therapist suggests setting a chair next to the bed, etc. Or maybe Mom has the wrong kind of chair next to het bed etc. Maybe Mom is using a cane but needs a different walking apparatus.

We all listen to experts while we might resist family members saying the same thing. it helps to be there when the therapist comes to Mom's house so you can follow through with the changes they suugest.

In regards to standing on one foot--that's one of the exercises I was given to help recover from a bad knee injury. Just stand on one foot for a slow count of 30, then switch to the other foot. Use your hands and arms for balance--until you get good at it, brushing your teeth while standing on one foot would be hard, because you need the brushing hand for balance. As you get better, you can balance for 30 seconds without needing your arms for balance. Then you get to move to the next step, which is standing on one foot for 30 seconds with your eyes closed.

There's something they call proprioception, which is a sense of where all your limbs are relative to each other (that's a very watered down definition). As many people age, they kind of lose this sense. One of the thing that the standing on one foot exercise does is to help regain that sense in regards to your feet and legs, which helps with balance and reducing falls. That's what my physical therapist told me.

I was told that the difference between physical and occupational therapy was what was broken. I had occupational therapy for a broken wrist. I went to a therapist's office and she showed me how to do exercises to regain movement in my wrist.

For the elderly, the difference is they come to your home and work with you there. They can teach you how to get up when you fall, consult about how wide a walking path should be, how to cook from a wheelchair, advise on getting sticky rugs that won't slip for the bathroom, etc.

Physical therapy for the elderly generally happens in an office. My SIL's mom worked with an occupational therapist before we hooked my MIL up with one.

sorry to hear about your mom's fall...

strong core muscles help us maintain our balence... we should all be exercising our cores for increased strength which will help tremendously as we get older!! ab, shoulder, back and hip/butt muscles all make up the core! (the simple standing on one foot exercise mentioned above involves core muscles... the stronger your core, the easier it will be!)

My mom has been taking a balance class through her senior center, and says it has helped her immensely. She is 78.

I am an exercise physiologist, and I can agree with balance training and also resistance/weight training. They need to make sure they have strength so they can remain independent.

Scary thing is some of my former students evaluate adults in their 50's and 60's, and you would be surprised at how many already have poor balance.

So, I would recommend a class from a Y, senior center, etc.

DH's grandma fell about 6 months ago. She was knocked over by a dog while walking to the convenience mart about a block away. She had to have a partial hip replacement and is doing well.

I think golddust made an important point that should be highlighted

We all listen to experts while we might resist family members saying the same thing. it helps to be there when the therapist comes to Mom's house so you can follow through with the changes they suggest

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions.

One of her Christmas presents is a gym membership that has a program for seniors. I've seen her strength and conditioning decling, so I'm excited that she's even considering it. I'm hoping that it improves her strength and balance.

No kidding about the "expert" opinion. I've been saying for several years that she needs to get off the statin drugs, but it wasn't until she read a magazine article about it that she decided that it was the right decision.

Here is my story: Am in my sixties, have always been a klutz and am now a worse klutz. This past summer while on an out-of-state family visit, I tripped on the stairs of our motel, arced out onto the sidewalk and landed on my palms, elbows, and knees, which prevented me from cracking my skull but did break my leg. The staircase did not have risers, IOW there was an empty space between each step. My shoe caught on the back of the stair and out I went. Spent seven weeks immobilized in a cast, under strict orders not to do anything that would jeopardize the healing of my leg, and under no circumstances to put weight on the in-cast broken leg.

Ladies - have you ever tried to wheel a wheelchair (no crutches for me) into your bathroom and to the toilet, scrunched in a tiny space - and get up, pull down your pants, sit, go, wipe, stand up again, pull pants back up, turn, and sit back down - all using one leg only? An experience no male could imagine. I began to dread the urge to "go". And of course our two cats insisted on accompanying me to watch in fascination.

All of the docs who saw me, the ER doc, the orthopedist who saw me a few days later, the orthopedist here at home, and my internist, said the same thing - take Vitamin D. Better yet, take it years before something like this happens.

More to the story. A few weeks after the cast came off and I was gingerly re-learning to walk and not fear stairs, I was home alone and was suddenly hit with a violent cough after having been on our deck working on my container garden. The cough became so severe that I could not catch my breath - like asthma - and I became extremely weak, unable to stand. Slid into the wheelchair and called the paramedics. Landed in the hospital for four days, having every test imaginable, all fine, no pneumonia, lungs and heart excellent. Final diagnosis - acute bronchitis - brought on by an allergic reaction to the plants (including in our front yard, recently planted and vigorously blooming). The docs said that because I had been immobilized for so long and was moving slowly and carefully post-cast, I had lost the strength to handle the cough, which simply took over and depleted my oxygen intake. In other words, it began with the fall and the cast.

Ironically I'd spent last spring doing several months of physical therapy at a wonderful sports medicine center, working to alleviate terrific sciatic pain. Was doing well with core-strengthening exercises, learning to use a stability ball for balance, pedaling away on a recumbent stationary bike, and losing significant weight. All of which came to an end with that pitch off the stairs in Oregon. Will begin again with my trainer in January.

I am not complaining; this is part of life and I am a fortunate woman, with a caring DH and good doctors. But I learned a lot.

Take my vitamin D.

Think about making a home easy and safe for someone who is incapacitated and/or older. Our house was built in 1933 and although we love it, the builders seem to have thrown the codes into Monterey Bay. My wheelchair couldn't go into the kitchen or the back of the house, where the MBR and laundry room are. DH took the entire time off work, except for a few half-days, in order to be my stay-at-home-mom, because I was essentially helpless. I now would never buy a house without wheelchair access, because you never know when you'll need it. It can come with one misstep, no matter your age!

Franksmom - you asked about distance around an older person, what is safe and navigable. I would say four feet, at least. And please make that attic inaccessible to your mom! It's a bad accident waiting to happen.

Apologies for the length of this. I hope it's in some way useful!