Suzanne Butler from Stay On Your Feet WA came along this week to tell us all about how we can take steps to avoid those nasty falls that plague many people. Suzanne is part of the team at Injury Matters in WA and their aim is to provide an effective falls prevention programme for older adults. There are three main strategies to adopt – Move Your Body; Improve Your Health; and Remove Hazards. Suzanne’s talk was focused on the first strategy in particular. It was rather horrifying to hear that in WA 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 experience a fall, and those who have to be hospitalised spend an average of 8.4 days in an institution. Falls result from environmental causes as well as personal causes, and one of the latter is problems with hearing. Balance is all about keeping one’s body position stable, and balance can be affected by a range of issues including dehydration, certain medications, over-use of alcohol, and even windy weather. Suzanne suggested that we should all improve our balance by working on it every day, and this can be done by exercising firstly with feet together and then later with one foot in front of the other whilst closing one’s eyes. The exercises should become more challenging as our balance improves. Each person should set their own goals and start slowly, but there is no doubt that strength and balance exercises help one to maintain independence. If one does have a fall, one should have the knowledge about how to get up safely, as often there is no-one else around. Lots to think about!