After a fall
Your elderly parent keeps falling. Here is what to do next.
If your elderly parent keeps falling, you are past the point of hoping it was a one-off, and that is actually useful to admit. Repeated falls are a pattern with causes that can be found and reduced, and the response has three parts: what you do straight after a fall, what you do about the pattern, and what covers the hours in between.
Straight after a fall
Before anything else: do not rush them up off the floor. Check for pain, check their head, and let them get up slowly with support if they can.
- Call 000 if they hit their head, take a blood thinner, have real pain, seem confused, or cannot get up. A head knock on blood thinners is an emergency even when they feel fine.
- If they seem okay, help them up slowly, watch them for the rest of the day, and book the GP anyway within a few days. Say the word fall to the receptionist and the doctor; do not soften it to a slip.
- Write down what happened: where, what time, what they were doing, what shoes they had on. It sounds fussy, and it is exactly what the GP needs to spot the cause.
The pattern matters more than any single fall
One fall can be bad luck. Two or more in a year is a pattern, and patterns have causes: medications that interact or drop blood pressure on standing, eyes that have quietly changed, legs and balance that have weakened, footwear, and the home itself. None of that gets fixed by being more careful, which is what most parents promise and most families accept.
The single most valuable thing you can do about the pattern is ask the GP, in those words, for a falls risk assessment. It reviews the medication list, blood pressure, vision, strength and balance, and it can lead to a physiotherapy program that genuinely reduces falling, and an occupational therapist visit that makes the home safer. This is the boring, proven path, and it works far better than any gadget.
Make the house tell the truth
Most falls happen at home, on routes your parent walks every day. Walk the house with fresh eyes, or better, ask for an occupational therapist home assessment through the GP.
- Light the night path from bed to bathroom properly. This one route causes an outsized share of falls.
- Loose mats, trailing cords and clutter on walkways go, even the sentimental ones.
- Rails where they already steady themselves: beside steps, in the shower, by the toilet. Watch where their hand goes; that is where the rail belongs.
- Shoes that hold the foot, at home too. Loose slippers are a falls machine.
The hours nobody can cover
Assessments and rails reduce falls. They do not bring them to zero, and someone who has fallen before can fall again with nobody there. The danger is not only the fall, it is the hours on the floor afterwards, and that is the specific problem in-home monitoring exists to solve.
A passive in-room sensor detects a fall and alerts the family without your parent wearing, charging, pressing or remembering anything, which matters because the pendant that lives in a drawer helps nobody. Be clear-eyed about what it is: monitoring does not prevent falls, it shortens the time before help comes. It is a wellbeing and safety aid, not a medical device, and no device detects every fall.
If you are weighing up the options, the honest device comparison covers every type, the two minute quiz narrows it to your parent's situation, and the cost guide explains subscription versus owning outright. Funding through Support at Home or the NDIS is covered in the funding guide.
Common questions
What should I do first after an elderly parent falls?
Check for injury before you move them, and if there is significant pain, a hit to the head, bleeding, or they cannot get up, call 000. If they seem fine, still book a GP visit in the next few days and mention the fall plainly. Falls are under-reported to doctors, and a fall without injury is still important information about what is changing.
Why does my elderly parent keep falling?
Repeated falls usually have several small causes stacking up rather than one big one: medication side effects or interactions, blood pressure drops on standing, changing vision, weaker balance and legs, footwear, and hazards in the home. That is exactly why a GP falls assessment matters, because it works through that list properly instead of guessing.
Should my parent go to hospital after a fall?
Call 000 or go to emergency if they hit their head, take a blood thinner, have significant pain, look confused, or cannot get up. If none of those apply, a prompt GP visit is the right path. When in doubt, especially with a head knock on blood thinners, err on the side of being checked.
How do I make my parent's home safer after falls?
The high-value changes are unglamorous: clear walkways, remove loose mats, light the path from bed to bathroom, add rails where they steady themselves, and sort footwear. An occupational therapist home assessment, usually arranged through the GP, turns this from guesswork into a short, specific list for that exact home.
Will a fall alarm stop my parent falling?
No, and it is important to be honest about that. Monitoring does not prevent a fall. What it changes is what happens afterwards: instead of hours on the floor before someone finds them, the people who care are alerted quickly. It is a wellbeing and safety aid, not a medical device, and no device detects every fall.
What is a falls assessment and how do we get one?
It is a structured review, usually started by the GP, of everything that contributes to falling: medications, blood pressure, vision, balance and strength, feet and footwear, and the home itself. Ask the GP directly for a falls risk assessment. It can lead to referrals such as physiotherapy for strength and balance or an occupational therapist for the home.
This page is general information for families, not medical advice. Decisions about falls, medications and assessments belong with your parent's GP. In an emergency, call 000. More background lives in the full fall monitoring guide.
Worried about the next one?
Tell us about your parent and the home. If monitoring is not the right next step for your family, we will say so.
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