Why does my elderly mother keep falling?

Because something has changed, and a fall is the symptom rather than the cause. Repeated falls in an older parent are almost never bad luck. They are usually several small things stacking up— weakening legs, a medication added last winter, eyesight, a rug, a fear of falling that quietly shrinks how much she moves.

The useful part is that most of those things can be changed.

The usual causes, roughly in order

• Leg strength and balance. The most common and the most fixable. If she pushes up with her arms to leave a chair, this is already happening.
• A previous fall. The single strongest predictor of the next one, partly because of what it does to confidence.
• Medications. Four or more regular medicines is an independent risk factor, and anything sedating raises it further. Worth a pharmacist or GP review.
• Dizziness on standing. A drop in blood pressure when she gets up. Common, treatable, often never mentioned.
• Doing less. After a scare, people cut back on walks and outings. That costs strength, which raises the risk again.
• The house. Loose mats, poor lighting, a step without a rail, the two-in-the-morning trip to the bathroom.

Is winter the dangerous time?

Not really, and this one is worth correcting because it is repeated everywhere. The AIHW reports that the largest causes of falls — slips, trips and stumbles, falls involving furniture, and falls on the same level — show little variation through the year. Winter is higher only for ice, snow and being knocked over by someone else. Summer is higher for ladders and outdoor activity (AIHW).

What winter changes is the hazards, not the count. Waiting for a season to pass is not a plan.

How serious is this, honestly?

Falls were the leading cause of injury hospitalisation in Australia in 2024–25: 253,800 admissions, 43.4% of all injury hospitalisations. People aged 85 and over had the highest rate, at 10,065 per 100,000. Fall injuries cost the health system about $5.4 billion in 2023–24.

That is the case for acting now rather than after the next one. Waiting is not neutral — strength keeps fading while nothing is being done about it, and each fall makes the following one more likely.

What she will not tell you

Most older people under-report falls, and the reasons are entirely understandable: not wanting to worry anyone, and not wanting the conversation about giving up the house. So the count you have is usually low.

Ask differently. Not “have you fallen?” but “have you had a near miss?”, “do you hold the furniture?”, “have you stopped doing anything because of your balance?”

What to do this week

• Do the falls-risk check. Eight questions, two minutes. The same ones we ask at a first assessment.
• Book a medication review. Free at most pharmacies, and one of the highest-yield things on this list.
• Get her eyes checked if it has been more than a year, especially if she wears multifocals on stairs.
• Fix the obvious hazards. A sensor night-light between bed and bathroom is a two-dollar fix for the most common fall in the house.
• Start strength and balance work. It is the best-evidenced way to prevent falls in older adults, and it has to be progressive to work.

Physiotherapy under Support at Home carries no participant contribution — here is where the government says so.