Case study

An 83-year-old Austin Pereira previously in good health. He slipped upon getting in the bathroom his and he hits his head onto the sink last year, his wife Joan Pereira- Grosse decided that it was time to take action about this matter and better take some precautions to prevent these accidents happening again.She modify the bathroom with handle bar and bought non-slip mats even installed non-slip parquet flooring and had arranged the furniture to ensure Mr Pereira's comfort of mobility around their home in Opera Estate in Siglap. She is contented with her retrofitting as it is much more accessible for his husband to move around the house. After the rearrangement of furniture Mr Austin pereira did not had more falls at home anymore. 

The risk of falling is very common among the elderly, as Singapore is facing a growing ageing society the numbers of falling cases is rapidly increasing. Changi General Hospital (CGH) reported that cases involving the elderly ageing 65 and above had about 70 per cent of the home-accident cases directed by its accident and emergency (A&E) department on a daily basis, up to 50 per cent two years ago. Changi General hospital took this matter seriously because the number of seniors involved in home accidents are rising so they published the Patient Safety exhibition to offer tips on home safety.

Gwendolyn Ng ‘Home accidents befall more elderly victims’ Sep 24, 2010 <http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100924-238848.html>