More than 1.8 million older adults are treated annually in emergency departments for injuries from falls, 433,000 are admitted to hospitals and 16,000 die because of their injuries, according to the CDC. Every year, about a third of Americans 65 and older fall, and about a third of those who lose their footing require medical treatment.
Rocky Miller, a 60-year-old Plano resident has launched a business, Slip Doctors, that will treat floors with a chemical that he says will make them more resistant to slips, slides and falls.
After years of selling motorcycles, the 60-year-old Plano resident has launched a business, Slip Doctors, that will treat floors with a chemical that he says will make them more resistant to slips, slides and falls.
"Simply put, my partners and I sell friction," he said. "In a country where the older population will double over the next 25 years, we think that's something that will be in demand for a long time."
The Addison-based business hopes to set itself apart from competitors, Miller said, by using a high-tech robot that scoots across the floor of a home or senior-living community and identifies slick spots.
Slip Doctors joins an industry springing up from people's concern over falling. Entrepreneurs and big corporations are creating products and services to stem a problem that threatens to worsen as boomers age.
"The good news is that we can reduce the risk of falling. It doesn't have to be an inevitable part of growing old," said Lynn Beattie, vice president of injury prevention at the National Council on Aging.
Aside from promoting longer lives and greater independence, the new efforts to prevent falls may help control health care costs as the oldest boomers qualify for Medicare in about a year, she said.
More than $19 billion is spent annually on treating seniors who fall. Without better prevention, that cost is projected to escalate to $43.8 billion a year by 2020, and Medicare will pay for most of it.
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