The controversy-riddled state government in Queensland, Australia, has decided to allow segways to travel on footpaths, infrastructure which until now has been out of bounds to all but pedestrians and children bicyclists. Consistent with bicycle legislation, segway riders will be required to wear helmets. In addition, they must not exceed the soon-to-be mandated speed limit […]
Category: Elderly
Falls – a complicated problem with wide-reaching impacts
Falls are a significant concern for older persons, and for older persons with medical conditions in particular, and as such they feature frequently in the injury prevention literature. A number of articles addressing this considerable source of injury, examining the problem from a variety of perspectives, have caught my attention. The perceptions of older community-dwelling […]
Recent age and sex trends of suicides in veterans require in-depth investigations
On February 1st, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released the most recent statistics on suicides in veterans. The report is based on data from 21 states from 1999 to 2010. The report presented suicide trends in veterans in two different ways. First it showed that in 1999 one in four persons committing suicide […]
Possible breakthrough on falls in the elderly
Most falls among elderly due to incorrect weight-shifting A study in British Columbia involved “strategically placed video cameras in long-term care facilities” that recorded falls among the elderly residents. Based on an analysis of recordings of 227 falls involving 130 individuals the researchers found that 70 per cent occurred “during a failed attempt at performing […]