What a fall really costs an older person, and their family.

The cost you can count

The bill does not end at discharge.

We all know how expensive a hospital stay is. A serious fall sets off a chain of costs, and most families discover them one at a time, and in a hurry.

• A hospital stay, and surgery if a bone is broken
• Months of recovery: medicines, physiotherapy, rehabilitation
• Care at home, sometimes for good
• Your own leave, your own travel, your own work put on hold

The cost you cannot

Some losses have no invoice.

Confidence

After a fall, many people are afraid to walk, to bathe, to go out. They stop doing the things that kept them strong.

Independence

The parent who always managed alone now needs help to stand, to wash, to cross the room. Some never get that back.

Their world, made smaller

Fewer walks, fewer visits, fewer ordinary pleasures. Less movement makes the next fall more likely.

Your peace of mind

The phone beside the bed. The trip you do not take. The guilt of the days you were not there.

Time, which cannot be bought back

Months of recovery in what could have been good years together.

The World Health Organization describes it as a loss of confidence, reduced activity and a cycle of increasing frailty, and notes that falls that are not fatal can lead to loss of independence, disability and long-term care needs.