Ready, Set, Holidays! Preparing for the Season Ahead

How proactive planning helps residents and families enjoy a safer, more confident holiday season

More than one in four adults age 65 and older falls each year, and that risk does not take a holiday. If anything, the season quietly raises it. The holidays alter the rhythm of a senior living community faster than almost anything else on the calendar. Between an influx of visiting family members coming through the doors and residents leaving for outings, routines shift quickly, and the environments residents move through shift with them.

Why a trip home can be riskier than it looks

A visit away from the community often presents physical environments residents don't encounter every day: a step down into a sunken living room, a bathroom without the grab bars they rely on at home, a dining chair with no armrests to push up from, or a higher step into a family member's car. None of these are dangerous on their own, but they are unfamiliar, and unfamiliar is exactly where falls tend to happen.

At the same time, family members frequently step in to manage hands-on support, transfer assistance, and off-site medication schedules they aren't accustomed to handling alone. A daughter who is confident hosting Thanksgiving dinner may never have practiced a safe pivot transfer from a wheelchair to a dining chair. A son picking Dad up for an afternoon out may not know the safest way to brace during a car transfer. Good intentions are not the same as preparation.

A proactive approach: Ready, Set, Holidays!

This is precisely why HealthPro Heritage prioritizes proactive, outcome-driven care over reactive treatment. Through our Ready, Set, Holidays initiative, our therapy teams focus on identifying potential challenges before they impact a resident's independence or safety, rather than responding after an injury has already occurred.

Inside a Holiday Readiness Clinic

At the center of this seasonal effort are our Holiday Readiness Clinics, designed to screen risk areas and equip families well ahead of time. Each clinic covers three areas.

1 - Functional readiness and screening

Therapists evaluate balance, transfer strength, and mobility, identifying specific areas where physical, occupational, or speech therapy can build functional endurance before the travel season kicks in. A resident heading to a two-story house for the holidays, for example, may spend a few sessions building the leg strength and confidence a staircase demands.

2 - Practical caregiver support

We walk families through proper transfer techniques on the resident's actual wheelchair or walker, and provide written guidance on medication management and safety tips for while they're away from the community. The goal is a family member who leaves the clinic having practiced the exact motion they'll need to use at home, not just heard it described.

3 - On-site family consultation

For families visiting within the community, clinics offer a space to discuss environmental setups and safety strategies for smoother, stress-free visits — from where to place a visiting grandchild's playpen to how to arrange seating so a resident can get up safely on their own.

Why this work matters

The case for planning ahead is backed by the numbers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• More than one in four adults age 65 and older falls each year — roughly 14 million people — but fewer than half tell their doctor.
• Falling once doubles the chance of falling again.
• Falls caused more than 43,000 deaths among older adults in 2024 and sent millions of older adults to the emergency room that same year.

None of this means a fall is inevitable. It means the risk is real, it is common, and it responds well to preparation — which is exactly what a Holiday Readiness Clinic is built to provide.

A season to celebrate, together

By anticipating needs early, we help residents stay strong, keep families confident, and ensure the season stays focused on celebrating together, not managing a crisis after the fact. If your loved one lives in a HealthPro Heritage community, ask their care team about scheduling a Holiday Readiness Clinic before this year's travel season begins.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Older Adult Fall Prevention data and facts, cdc.gov/falls.