22), that predispose an older person to fall. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has identified fall as “one of the most serious health care concerns that confront the older adults” (Kovacs, 2005, p. 21) and had been identified to be one of the causes of morbidity in this population. After a fall, an older adult may sustain an injury that would further affect the performance of activities of daily living. In addition to the physical injury, it is the psychological effects of the experience of falling that will have a more lasting effect that often give rise to the fear of falling (FOF) phenomenon. Fear of falling was described by Viljanen, Kulmala, Rantokokko, Koskenvuo, Kaprio, and Rantanen (2013) as “a lasting concern about falling that leads to an individual avoiding activities that he/she remains capable of performing” (p. 777). Thus, the fear of falling usually incapacitates an older adult long after the physical injury has …show more content…
I live alone and have been self-sufficient all my life that the thought of relying on someone else for my bodily needs would be something hard to swallow. If I would have my way, I would rather go quietly in my sleep while I still have all my senses and cognition. At the moment, my desire is not to add years to my life, but life to my years (Drewnowski & Evans,