()– Many things have changed since the coronavirus pandemic. One thing that isn’t changing is the following: Falling is not an inevitable part of aging. There are steps that you can take to lower your risk.

Even in the COVID-19 era falls are still the most common cause of non-fatal and fatal injuries among older adults. A fall can seriously impact the quality of an older adult’s life. Falls can make older adults feel isolated and fearful about leaving their home. This can result in costly medical bills.

It is important to identify which aspects of your life are most at risk for falling. The National Council on Aging (NCOA), an established national leader, offers a free online survey that will help you identify your falls risk and offer practical steps to reduce them.

The Falls Free Checkup is being launched during the NCOA’s annual Falls Prevention Awareness Week. It will be available Sept. 21-25.

“We want older adults to be their own agents of change in ensuring they age well,”Kathleen Cameron, senior director at the NCOA’s Center for Healthy Aging, said: “The Falls Free CheckUp provides an easy-to-use and confidential screen of falls risks as a first step in preventing falls. NCOA also offers practical and proven ways to address those risks.”

Falls Free Checkup is available both in English and Spanish. It contains 12 questions that address reasons for increased falls risk. Each statement can be answered yes or no by older adults, and the explanations will explain why. Take, for example: “Sometimes I feel unsteady when I am walking,”The statement follows: “Unsteadiness or needing support while walking are signs of poor balance.”

The self-directed survey provides older adults with a personal risk score and practical steps to avoid falling. This information can be shared with their health care providers and caregivers to help them understand how to reduce falls risk and to take steps to prevent them from falling.

Next steps might include using a cane/walker more effectively, adjusting medications and getting an hearing or eye exam.

The Falls Free CheckUp will also be launched by NCOA. They will host free English (Sept. 23, at 6:30 PM EST) or Spanish (Sept. 24, at 6:30 PM EST) Facebook Live events during Fall Prevention Awareness Week in order to highlight this important topic.

Visit www.amazon.com for more information www.ncoa.org/FallsWeek.