Covering the Cost: The cost of falling and its impact on Hawaii’s aging population

In HNN’s livestream show “Covering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,” we break down the numbers behind Hawaii’s affordability crisis in candid conversations with financial experts, entrepreneurs and community leaders.

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – In this episode of “Covering the Cost” on Sept. 16 at 12:30 p.m., Annalisa Burgos talks with Gary Simon, chair of the Hawaii Falls Prevention Alliance, Joni Kamiya, an occupational therapist, and Mary Quijano, a senior who went through rehab and in-home therapy after a traumatic fall.

In Hawaii, 1 in 4 seniors fall each year, with preventable falls accounting for about half of injury-related elder deaths. Those who survive suffer from physical and emotional injuries, as well as financial fallout, with hospital bills averaging $42,000 and tens of thousands more on rehab.

It’s what 90-year-old Mary Quijano experienced first-hand. She’s normally healthy and active, but three years ago, while walking inside her home, she fell so hard she shattered her right shoulder.

“I tripped and I went forward I hit a big bump on my head and my shoulder. Yeah, the shoulder was stuck under my body. I couldn’t move. My daughter was there. Debbie, I cannot get my arm out,” Quijano said. “Yeah, I went through a lot.”

Fall survivors like Quijano spend months in the hospital, rehab and home care, relying on family and therapists like Kamiya to regain their independence.

“She was in bad shape. So she couldn’t really use her arms. She had tremendous pain, and because she wasn’t moving, she had bedsores and just struggling,” Kamiya said.

Some medications can cause dizziness and increase fall risks. Patients should talk to their doctors, which is what Quijano did.

“That helped her to feel more confident when you get up. So, when she got up, she wasn’t feeling woozy in the head and that led to a little bit faster recovery,” Kamiya said.

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Kupuna advocates say Quijano’s experience is increasingly common, as Hawaii’s population ages.

That’s why the Hawaii Falls Prevention Alliance is launching a weeklong outreach campaign from Sept. 21-25 to urge families to talk openly about fall risks and take action.

Knowing your fall risks and being proactive can save your life and prevent a tragedy.

“It can be traumatic,” Simon explained. “It will disconnect you from your community and in the worst case, it will shorten your lifespan.”

“People just don’t recognize that their balance is changing,” Kamiya added. “Keep your activity level up, keep doing things because if not, the deceleration and progress in function happens too fast.”

Simon outlined 6 tips for preventing falls:

“That’s all we want is quality of life, and we want to be doing things. The doing is what keeps us healthy,” Kamiya said.

Visit hifallsprevention.org and ncoa.org/page/falls-prevention for more information.

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To find free resources in your county, visit hifallsprevention.org/resources.