My dad is in assisted living and has been falling out of his chairs lately. Is there a solution?

He eats in a dining room which is where most of the incidents are happening and it's a problem because no one is directly paying attention to him and anytime a nurse sees someone fall and possibly hit their head, they have to call an ambulance and send them to the ER. Most of the time it hasn't been necessary and it's expensive! He tends to fall asleep easily and then leans of course but the chairs have thin arms and he falls out easy. He also has dementia so he wouldn't remember to always bring some sort of device with him to meals. Any ideas on what I can do to help?

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Mom's table mate was restricted to her wheelchair during meals, and the facility clipped an alarm to her shoulder that went off whenever she leaned too far forward. And it should be up to the facility to ensure he is using the fall alert, not him.

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Since these incidents are causing injuries, you need to call a Care Conference with the staff, including the director, and voice your concerns. If Dad is a fall risk, he needs to be supervised when he's out of his room. Since he has fallen more than once, the staff should realize he needs to be watched at mealtimes. Not only are they required to call 911, they also need to fill out paperwork each and every time he falls, and that's a pain. It would be easier to assign someone to keep an eye on him at mealtimes. When my mom was in Memory Care, there were always at least 2 aides in the dining room supervising.

You might also consider bringing him to the dining room in a wheelchair. Those are harder to fall out of. High sides and the table in front of him. He could even be belted in.

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I'm surprised the staff hasn't taken him to the dining room in a wheelchair. That's the obvious solution. I agree it's time for a care conference.

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Sounds like he should not be in a regular dining char, or even one without arms. Sounds like he should be in a wheelchair.
Although you can not "restrain" a person there are clip on tables for wheelchairs that will sort of prevent one from sliding out, or tipping out.
My Husband would list to one side and I would keep the back of the wheelchair slightly reclined so that he was not in a complete upright position. Made it a bit more difficult to lean forward to slide out.
The last chair I had for my Husband was a Broda Chair. it had slight sides to it almost like one of the "old fashioned" wing back chairs. With that bit of a side up near the shoulders he was less likely to slip and the "wings" prevented him from leaning too far to one side.

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I agree with the above. Years ago when Dad was recovering from an illness, he couldn't sit up in one of those chairs without leaning too far over the side, so he had to be in a wheelchair, as well. I also agree that it's the facility's responsibility to make sure he has the fall alarm in use. You can't expect the patient to remember!

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Contact the facility's administrator and nursing director to get some answers. A report must be filied every time he falls and this would impact the facility's overall rating. The facility should be concerned.

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Maybe assisted living is the wrong plan for your father, although the wheelchair idea has merit.

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Try being there at mealtime. You might need to have him eat in his quarters.

Sadly, they are not allowed to 'strap him in' - and falls will happen. They are following procedure to call an ambulance. Think of the lawsuits if they didn't.

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there are all kinds of geriatric chairs and beds, some of these have a tray table that can be removed after meals and there are also soft pillow like wraps that prevent these falls. he simply is not safe in a regular chair, something needs to be done asap period.

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My husband has fallen from chairs, too. After taking him to the ER and getting no explanation from them, I have realized that it is Syncope. My friend whose husband did this often, was told by a Dr. in the ER that Syncope 'happens quite often to the elderly.' Now I don't worry about it. He falls over and after five or 10 minutes is able to get up. We live in a senior community so the ER Dr.'s do see a lot of Syncope.

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My dad is in assisted living and has been falling out of his chairs lately. Is there a solution?

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