How not to copy Maggie and Dawn

Maggie Beer and Dawn Fraser had nasty falls last year. Here’s how to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to the rest of us.

Of course, Maggie and Dawn aren’t the only notable Australians who’ve had serious falls.

In 2023 Barry Humphries died after complications related to surgery on his fractured hip.

In 2022 journalist Caroline Jones died after a fall.

And in 2021 fashion designer Carla Zampatti died after falling at the opera.

It happens so easily. Barry Humphries was reaching for a book. Carla Zampatti was walking down stairs.

One of the difficulties in convincing women to improve their balance is that we all think it happens to other people. People older than us.

If we do fall, we often put it down to a lack of concentration. We should’ve been watching where we were going.

And while no one’s arguing against paying attention, the reality is that once we’re in our 60s, it might not just be that we weren’t concentrating. We’re in the age bracket that needs to be proactive about balance.

A professor from the National Ageing Research Institute at Royal Melbourne Hospital wrote an open letter to Maggie Beer, who she’d met when they both gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Aged Care.

Among the stats she quoted was that around 30% of Australians over 65 have a least one fall each year, and that falls represent 42% of injury deaths.

Another eye-opening figure is that across the country over 380 of us are hospitalised with a fall each day. So there’s a lot of it going on and, clearly, it can be serious.

Since women fall more than men, improving balance is an investment in healthy ageing and our future independence. And it’s something to be practicing now, not waiting until we think we’re old enough to need it.

Here are some basics to bear in mind.

• We have to keep doing it. Forever. So if we do a six-week tai chi program, that’s great, but we need something else to take on once that ends.
• More is better. If we think we have this nailed because we sometimes do a balance pose in our weekly yoga class, we’re kidding ourselves. Make a point of practicing between classes. At home, see if you can turn an everyday activity into balance training — stand on one leg to brush your teeth, or to put on your undies or socks, for example.
• Resistance or weight training, by itself, won’t prevent falls. As much as we need strength, it’s not balance. Some free weight exercises (i.e. using bands, dumbbells, medicine balls, and so on) can be done on one leg or incorporate a balance challenge though.

Researchers argue that activities such as walking and dancing don’t improve balance, but that depends on the circumstances.

A stroll on a flat, concrete footpath won’t be a great test of it, but a bushwalker who has to negotiate rocky ground, soft surfaces, and tree roots is training their muscles, joints and tendons to manage instability. (For some of us that’ll sound like gardening at our place.)

As for dance, partner dances where the woman has to remember steps while moving backwards take concentration as well as mobility. And any activity that improves mobility will contribute to keeping us steady.

Below I’ll list some basic drills to try at home, but a well-regarded program that’s available free online is the Otago Exercise Program for falls prevention. (For more options click on the GiveFit channel icon to access their workouts 2, 3 and 4. They use an ankle weight. If you don’t have one, they suggest starting with a sock with rice in it. The only way I can imagine that working is if it’s a long sock that can be tied or pinned, but you can probably figure that out better than I can.)

If you’re fit and your balance is good, you won’t find this challenging. But if you’ve had a fall and you’re not so confident about your balance, take a look.

Trials using virtual reality balance games on Nintendo and Xbox have shown good results too, so we can expect to see more of those in the future.

Finally, a reminder that there are plenty of other factors involved in staying upright. For example, at home, we need to be smart about slippery surfaces and spills, loose mats, or anything we can trip on.

People who have problems with their cognition, eyesight, and feet are also likely to be more vulnerable.

Here are those drills to try at home, but only if you have the close support of something that won’t move. Like the kitchen bench.

• Take your weight in your heels with toes coming off the floor, then weight in your toes with heels off the floor.
• If you can stand on one leg for 30 seconds without holding onto support, try half closing your eyes.
• Try standing with both feet on a straight line so the heel of the front foot just touches the toes of your back foot. See if you can hold that position for 30 seconds then swap the position of your feet. Try walking that way, heel to toe.
• Stand with your two feet together and reach out in different directions with either arm. If that’s easy go to one leg and try it. See if you can reach up and reach down on one leg.

If they’re all easy, don’t assume you’re done here. That’s your cue to start practicing something harder.

Photo Source: Gourmet Escape