In Dutch hospitals, a record number of people over 65 were treated last year after a fall. Knowledge Center Security of Security estimates that 119,000 elderly people ended up after a fall at the Emergency Department (SEH). This number has never been so high before. Drenthe is one of the top three provinces with the highest number of people over 65 with a fall risk in the Netherlands.
The Knowledge Center has analyzed care data, including hospital data. Of the ten elderly people who fall in Drenthe, an estimated three end up in the emergency room.
The fact that Drenthe is one of the top three, according to Rozan van der Veen (expert fall prevention at SafetyNL) because there have been many hospital admissions of people over 65 after a fall incident in 2024. Van der Veen: “But also because there are relatively many people over 80 in Drenthe compared to other provinces.”
The Knowledge Center expects that a total of 1,750 Drenten aged 65 or older will be admitted to the hospital after a fall. A fall prevention course can help to prevent this.
Sportdrenthe offers the ‘in balance’ fall prevention course. Professionals work together with municipalities and local neighborhood sports coaches to properly tailor the course to the needs of the target group. Today, over-65s in the municipality of Tynaarlo start the course.
The course focuses on seniors with an increased risk of falling and the elderly with an inactive lifestyle. The goal is to reduce the risk of falling with information, tips and exercises and to encourage participants to keep moving permanently.
“This course is mainly for how do you stand, how do you stay in balance and when I fall, how do I get up again?” Says Esther Witte, project leader at Sportdrenthe. “This afternoon it is also about how you stand at all and if you get up from a chair how do you do that, which leg muscles do you use.”