Free workshops were held across five East Kootenay communities during the first week of November, as part of B.C. Senior Falls Prevention Awareness Week. The workshops in Fernie were held November 4 at Rocky Mountain Village.
Cranbrook Safe Communities — an injury prevention and advocacy program — hosted the initiative, and facilitators from the Council of Senior Citizen Organizations (COSCO) presented at the workshops.
Couple Craig and Judy Gray have been doing these presentations for the last two years.
“If we help one or two people then we’re pretty happy,” said Judy. “We’re trying to reach out to them and empower them and invigorate them and tell them they’re important,” added Craig.
In their presentation, the Grays noted that falls cause more than half of all injuries in people 65 years of age and older, and that nearly half of all injuries to seniors occur in the home.
Two workshops were held that day; the first was about safety in the home and included detailed checklists of potential dangers and a review of fire hazards, medication use as well as childproofing.
The second workshop dealt with stress and how seniors, whose quality of life can be greatly affected by excessive stress, can identify and handle stressors. The presentation also talked about caregiver stress.
The pair continued their workshop tours for the rest of the week.