Did you know that one in three adults over age 65 fall each year? According to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five of those falls result in a\u00a0serious injury such as a broken bone or head injury and may require hospitalization.<\/p>\n
As we get older, many factors can increase our risk of falling. Risk factors include balance problems,\u00a0leg weakness, dizziness, some medications, dehydration, and home hazards like floor clutter, throw\u00a0rugs or a broken stair. Often times, it\u2019s a combination of some of these factors that causes a fall.<\/p>\n
How to prevent falls<\/strong><\/p>\n A fall is not inevitable. There are many things you can do to help yourself or a loved one prevent a fall.<\/p>\n Source:<\/em> cdc.gov<\/p>\n Health New England can also help<\/strong><\/p>\n As part of your Health New England Medicare Advantage plan, you can use your Fitness Center\/Weight Watchers\u00ae<\/sup>\/Over-the-Counter Items Allowance to help with fall prevention. This combined benefit provides reimbursement of up to $150 per calendar year for a fitness center membership and over-the-counter items, which include shower chairs, bathtub benches, grab bars, raised toilet seats and more. By taking advantage of this allowance, you can help decrease your risk of falling.<\/p>\n In addition, Health New England regularly holds seminars for members focused on health and safety topics, including fall prevention. Flyers about upcoming seminars and events are mailed directly to Medicare Advantage members\u2019 homes. Be on the look-out.<\/p>\n Medicare Advantage members who attended a recent fall prevention session had the following to say about the program:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cExcellent. Useful!\u201d H8578_2017_502\u00a0Approved<\/p>\n Because medical problems may occur at any time, Health New England asks our primary care\u00a0providers (PCPs) to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Talk to your PCP to find out\u00a0about arrangements for care after normal business hours. At times, you may reach your PCP\u2019s If you reach an answering service:<\/em><\/p>\n H8578_2016_491\u00a0Approved<\/p>\n *Health New England Medicare Advantage is an HMO Plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in\u00a0Health New England Medicare Advantage depends on contract renewal. This information is not a\u00a0complete description of benefits. Contact the plan for more information. Limitations, copayments\u00a0and restrictions may apply. Benefits, premiums and\/or copayments\/coinsurance may change on\u00a0January 1 of each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Did you know that one in three adults over age 65 fall each year? According to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five of those falls result in a\u00a0serious injury such as a broken bone or head injury and may require hospitalization. As we get older, many factors can increase our risk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[488,487],"class_list":["post-4872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medicare","tag-fall-prevention","tag-fall-safety"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/MEDI2538-1016_Print-9.jpg?fit=600%2C306&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ZZGa-1gA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4872"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4989,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions\/4989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\u201cFantastic. It was all very informational.\u201d
\n\u201cIt was an excellent program\u00a0and strongly needed.\u201d
\n\u201cI found this evening very informative\u00a0and helpful.\u201d
\n\u201cExtremely informative.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nWhat if I need non-emergency care after normal\u00a0business hours?*<\/h3>\n
\nanswering service. Also, you may reach the doctor who is on call for your PCP.<\/p>\n\n
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