When Jeff Salter pedaled into Menomonee Falls on his e-bike, he was already over 4,000 miles into his cross-country effort to raise awareness of care for older adults.
Every 11 seconds a person over the age of 65 is taken to an emergency room for a fall-related injury. Salter’s goal is to raise money for the installation of grab bars in their homes.
Salter, CEO of Caring Senior Service, is biking 9,000 miles cross-country visiting each of his company’s 45 franchise locations. The company he founded helps to provide non-medical assistance to adults over 65 living at home. The idea of biking around the country sprung from his desire to do something unique to celebrate 30 years of being in the business of helping older adults.
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“I wanted to not only celebrate 30 years of helping seniors remain in their homes healthy and happy but also start a movement focused on closing the gap in senior care,” Salter said. “This ride was a good opportunity to launch the movement and bring attention to underserved and under-helped seniors in their communities.” He also wanted to bring awareness to halting injuries and deaths from falling, many of which are preventable.
Fall prevention has been a major topic in Wisconsin for the past several years. The state ranks first in fall deaths of adults over 65. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that older adult fall deaths in Wisconsin increased more than 19.1% from 2016 to 2019. The rest of the country increased only 7.6% over the same time.
These statistics, and others, encouraged Salter to form a fundraising campaign called “Grab the bars.” Its aim is to raise money to buy grab bars for older adults who can’t afford to install them in their homes. So far, he has raised over $17,000 with a goal to raise $100,000.
Work toward the ride began in August. Salter was not an avid biker and prepared his body to handle riding up to 120 miles a day. He also spent over 80 hours planning the route and learning bike repair skills. A small trailer is hitched to his e-bike and converts into a tent for sleeping in state parks.
While in Menomonee Falls, he was able to meet more people involved in helping older adults stay safe. Stacie and Greg Opahle, franchise owners of Caring Senior Service of Milwaukee, organized a health fair to highlight Salter’s ride through Wisconsin. Over 30 vendors were on hand to discuss fall prevention and other health needs for adults over 65.
Glendale-based company Senior Helpers was one of them. The company provides non-medical assistance to seniors living at home. Their caregivers help with transportation, personal care and a litany of other needs for older adults in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties and parts of Ozaukee County.
Senior Helpers Community Resource Coordinator Erin Brannan believes they are helping to close the gap in older adult care by being a source of both care and information. “A lot of seniors don’t know where to turn. They feel that things are changing like their memory or physical changes, and it can be confusing to them,” she said.
“Sometimes these changes are like grieving a loss and they don’t know what to do or what resources are available to them. If we cannot help, we will find someone who can.”
Older adults falling in a familiar environment can be both confusing and shocking. This was the experience of retired Bay View resident Chris Tyriver. She has fallen at least twice while doing simple chores like weeding and harvesting rhubarb in her garden.
“The fall itself is terrifying. It’s like your whole life passes in front of you as you go from standing to flat,” Tyriver said. “The first thing I thought was, ‘Just lay there and stay calm.'” She conducted a self-assessment and decided it was safe to get up.
The fall left her wondering what went wrong.
“It’s concerning to think that everything you do could lead to a fall. My advice to other seniors is to have yourself as prepared as possible. Slow down, take things a bit easier, try not to rush through anything and just give your actions your full attention to keep yourself safe,” she said.
Fall prevention workshops
The state’s appalling record on older adult falls has prompted an increase in programs centering around fall prevention. One such program is called Stepping On.
The program is a seven-week workshop designed to help reduce falls by focusing on core elements including simple strength and balance exercises taught by physical therapists; vision experts who discuss the connection between vision loss and falling; and pharmacists who discuss the value of certain vitamins as well as medications. Each session is two hours and participants are expected to practice the exercises they learned at least three times a week.
According to the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, the program has helped to reduce participants’ falls by 31%.
Kari Dombrowski is the aging services supervisor for the Aging and Disability Resources Center of Ozaukee County. She said the trend in senior falls is partly due to lack of activity.
“We’ve found that people sat more during the pandemic because they were told to not go anywhere, so they were not moving. Unfortunately, if you don’t use (your physical abilities), you lose it,” Dombrowski said. During the past year, she heard from people who told her they were starting to decline. They had stopped doing the exercises that helped them function in everyday life.
The workshops also cover common home falling hazards since the home is where many falls occur. Installing grab bars where needed, removing home obstacles including rugs and everyday clutter can prevent falls, Dombrowski said. She said she reminds adults over 65 that it takes them doing the work, including keeping up with exercises or rearranging a room, to prevent a fall.
Dombrowski looks forward to having in-person workshops again. “We have people who attend who have not fallen yet and they want to prevent that fall, and others who have.” The program is so popular in Ozaukee County, the Aging and Disability Resources Center runs it four times a year.
Caring Senior Service franchisee Stacie Opahle said everyone can play a part in helping older adults in their community by doing the simple things.
“Holding the door open for someone, helping someone load their groceries, checking in on your neighbor that may have some health issues or you haven’t seen for a couple of days. These small acts can make a big difference in the life of a senior,” she said. “There are gaps in senior care that we will continue to address, but there are things that we all can do to help make sure our seniors age gracefully.”
Fall prevention resources
More information is available on non-medical health care issues for adults over 65 at the following resources:
Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging has a number of fall prevention resources on its website at www.wihealthyaging.com.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers additional information on adult falls on its website www.cdc.gov/falls/.
Here’s how you can connect with your local aging and disability resource center:
Contact Victoria Magee at (414) 223-5368 or vmagee@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @VictoriaMagee20 .
