'Why older people need to be extra careful when wearing masks and how to help'

image from here

"Older people wearing face masks need to take extra care to make sure they don’t trip over obstacles when walking. New advice from UK researchers says that taking more time, both before and during walking, is a good way of staying safe.

The advice is also helpful for anyone whose balance is particularly reliant on vision, such as people with Parkinson’s disease or those whose sensory nerves are impaired by diabetes.

In an editorial published in the British Medical Journal, the academics from Brunel University London and the University of Exeter highlight how face masks obscure the ground just in front of our feet, an issue that’s been missing from guidance about mask safety."

"Masks shall be worn is the order of the day, so we may as well learn to wear them properly. That doesn’t mean just slipping the loops over your ears and fabric over your mouth. Not if you’re old it doesn’t.

Many find that each time a mask is put on and they try to look down they feel they might stumble and that’s because masks shrink your field of vision.

If your vision is a bit dodgy to begin with, as it is in many older people, then wearing a mask can carry the real risk of falling.

Glasses wearers are particularly vulnerable as masks make glasses fog up and blur vision on top of blocking the lower field of vision.

Visual information from your lower peripheral field is important for ­spotting and avoiding approaching hazards and placing your steps safely.

Wearing a face mask makes it ­difficult to gather this important ­information during walking and may increase your chance of tripping or falling, particularly when negotiating obstacles and going downstairs.

Looking down while wearing a mask doesn’t help says Dr. Elmar Kal. Older adults use vision to detect obstacles and plan a safe path to walk. But having to look down more often makes it more difficult to plan ahead.

Recent research using eye tracking shows that older people make greater stepping errors when looking down compared with looking ahead.

Then, to keep your balance, visual information needs to be integrated with spatial information from limbs and joints. Not moving your head and eyes while walking provides a stable visual “anchor” for regulating balance. Looking down often works against this strategy.

It could even cause serious instability as it requires frequent, large movements of the head and eyes.

So, a recommendation to “look down” when wearing a mask may paradoxically impair stability by ­interfering with the fine tuning of vision we use to keep walking safely.

This will affect not only older adults, but anyone who is reliant on visions for balance, such as people with Parkinson’s disease or diabetic neuropathy.

How can we minimise the effects of masks on walking safety? Kal advises a tight fit around the nose and cheeks.

You should always take your time, rather than looking down, before starting to walk and then walk more slowly so you have enough time to see hazards ahead and plot a safe route.

A slow pace also means you don’t need rapid head and eye movements while walking."

Good tips! And maybe we should think about ­transparent masks?

‘Face masks, vision, and risk of falls’, by Elmar Kal (Brunel University London), Will Young (University of Exeter) and Toby Ellmers (Exeter/Brunel), is published in the British Medical Journal.

xxxxxxx

As regular readers know, this blog is presented in a magazine style - we hope something for everyone. You will find a variety of articles, studies, thoughts, photographs, music and recipes! 

However, not all the recipes ideas featured in this blog may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan