The SLO Village Coffee Group recently devoted three of our weekly Zoom meetings to the important topic of health safety. Michelle Zulim-Clark, Health Education Specialist for the County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Department, presented the classes. Prior to the pandemic, these classes were taught in-person and usually ran for six weeks, including practice sessions on how – and how not – to fall.

In addition to her engaging and practical sessions, Michelle made available useful materials, such as the “Fall Prevention Participant Manual”, the booklet that accompanies the class she teaches at Cuesta College and “Safe Use of Medicines” from the National Institute on Aging. She also provided practical items that reinforced her teaching: pill boxes, squeeze balls (to increase hand strength and decrease stress), eyeglass cleaning cloths, and lighted keychains.

The Fall Prevention manual has simple assessment questions and physical tests that will help anyone assess their ability to balance and determine their risk for falls. After the risk assessment is complete, the next step is learning how to minimize that risk. The classes and materials provide suggestions for how to make your body stronger and improve your balance.

An important part of reducing your risk of falls is to eliminate trip hazards in your home. An entire session could have been spent on this topic alone! Both SLO Village and the SLO County Health Department offer home inspections to help you find fall hazards that you may not notice because they weren’t a hazard before, but they are now! We learned that 60% of falls happen in and around our homes. We spend a lot of time there, so we need to take the time to make our homes as safe as possible.

The “Safe Use of Medicines” booklet provides helpful tips for keeping your medications organized. It includes a sample spreadsheet in which you can fill in your own medication, what it is for, the dosage, and how it is to be taken. Having difficulty getting the childproof cap off? We learned that you could ask your local pharmacist for an easy to open cap. Can't read the label with the dosage instructions? Ask the pharmacist to print the label in a larger font. Be sure to keep a list of all the medications you take and include over-the-counter drugs, as well. Keep this list with you and when adding new medications, ask your pharmacists to review your list. Some OTC medications interact with prescription drugs and dosages may need to be adjusted.

We have a few booklets and safety items left and, if you missed the sessions or would like to hear them again, please contact us at 805-242-6440 or office@slovillage.org.

Michelle also facilitates SLOCO Seniors, a monthly social group for seniors to share experiences and ideas. Topics vary each month. Co-sponsored with Sierra Vista/Tenet Health. Meetings are held the 3rd Monday of the month, 10:30 am –11:30 am.

For more information on classes or fall prevention, please contact:
Michelle Zulim-Clark, Health Education Specialist
zulimclark@co.slo.ca.us
805-781-1561