A Senior's Fear of Falling

My mother is 91 and has dementia, (officially diagnosed Sept 2004) taking only an aspirin a day and still medically sound. She has never been confident using a frame and has always felt she will fall. However, recently she had a 'turn' which knocked the wind out of her although this is not believed to have been a TIA. Subsequently, her fear of falling seemed greater and on two occasions she sank down to the floor and sat down. On both occasions paramedics got her up again which resulted in her being taken to hospital. The hospital seem to indicate that she will never regain full mobility although whilst at home, she was walking apart from those two events. I feel they have written her off too quickly so in essence, my question is:  Is this how dementia goes, in that once the mobility goes its gone for all time?...or will this come and go dependent on how she is on a given day? Your general guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you.

The fear of falling you are describing is not confined to seniors with dementia. Poor balance and muscle weakness due to lack of exercise is common among many of our seniors. Taking a fall will often lead to a senior being terrified of another, which leads to further reluctance to walk, which leads to increased weakness and even worse balance. It is a vicious cycle.

Almost every person who is afraid of a fall would benefit from working with a physical therapist to increase strength, balance, coordination and confidence. Unless your mother's dementia is so far along that she cannot remember the instructions of a therapist she would probably benefit.

From your choice of words I would venture a guess that your are somewhere in either Canada or the UK? In the US her physician could authorize a home care agency to send a physical therapist to her home for a course of treatment. I am unfamiliar with the options in other countries.

The many dementias progress differently, depending on the underlying cause. The diagnosis of "dementia" does not tell you the cause of her cognitive symptoms, so it is impossible to know how she may progress. Generally, one or two falls does not indicate that a person will never walk again. The more significant factor is her fear of falling, which may well cause her to fall again as she hesitates to walk confidently.