Residents encouraged to get eye exams to help prevent falls

A local optometrist is encouraging residents to get their vision checked as part of Fall Prevention Month.
"It's important for everybody to get their eyes checked," said Dr. Brady Haslam.
For this year's fall prevention month, Alberta optometrists and the University of Alberta's Injury Prevention Centre have teamed up to focus on encouraging seniors to get their eyes checked as one way to prevent falls.
"That is the group who tends to have injuring falls the most," said Haslam.
Deficiencies relating to visual acuity, depth perception and peripheral vision can all contribute to falls.
"If you're walking down stairs and you can't see the depth of the stairs or where they are then you're going to misjudge your muscle activity and potentially have a fall," he said.
Get one's eyes checked regularly is the best way to prevent vision related falls.
Haslam said that a common misconception amongst the public is that optometrists just handle glasses prescriptions.
"A lot of people think you just go to the optometrist to get new glasses," he said.
"We also check to make sure that your eyes are healthy," said Haslam, "That's our first and foremost concern."
Other things that can be done to protect one's vision include: wearing sunglasses, not smoking, having a healthy diet and limiting time spent looking at computer and device screens.