Falls

I recently treated an in pt who had been admitted with bruising and cuts to her hand following a fall the previous evening. She had been cleared of any fractures or tendon damage and was due to be discharged. As she had been admitted for a fall i thought to do a falls assessment on her to check if she would be appropriate for a falls class which is available at the hospital. I discovered that this was her first fall in 5 years and 5 years ago she had been falling regularly and then done a physio balance which had keep her balanced for those next 5 years until now. her berg balance score was 46, making her a relatively low risk pt (mainly losing marks on single leg stance and tandem stance), and she reported that she is confident with her balance and doesn't think she will fall again as she uses a stick and a 4WW at home, therefore i was thinking maybe she would be ok with a few home exercises for her balance would be suffice. On further questioning i was asking her regarding going shopping and she said her daughter usually takes her, but she probably won't go anymore. Asking her as to why, she said because of her balance. So even tho she said she was confident that she wouldn't fall, part of the reason was because she was going to cut back on what she was doing. So this changed my thinking from a HEP back to the class as we want to keep these pt's as independant as possible and doing the things they enjoy doing, rather than just being safe and cutting out the things they enjoy and the class not only improves their balance but also their confidence. I suppose what i'm getting at is that I'm glad i completed a full in depth subjective as if i had of rushed through the berg and gone by the score she managed i may have not given her the best possible treatment.
Until next time, -a.