The fall you can see coming.
The pendant is for after you fall. This is for before.
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The phone walk test
Put your phone in a pocket and walk for 20 seconds. Its motion sensor reads your steadiness, cadence and symmetry. It runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
- Cadence
- Steadiness
- Symmetry
Stay Independent checklist
Twelve Yes or No questions from the CDC’s STEADI initiative, for yourself or for the parent you are worried about.
- Scored 0 to 14, the way CDC prints it
- 4 or more means may be at risk
- A screener, not a diagnosis
1 in 4 adults over 65 reports a fall each year — and walking that slows is a warning sign: in one study, older adults whose walking speed dropped by more than 0.15 m/s in a year fell more often afterward (MOBILIZE Boston, 2011). Not a pendant. Not fear. Your number, and what to do about it.
After a fall: practice the talk with a parent, or with their doctor →FallRisks in 15 seconds
- 1 in 4 over 65 reports a fall a year. Most families wait until after one happens.
- A 20-second walk test. Your phone's motion sensor. Nothing uploaded.
- Cadence, steadiness, symmetry. 100-130 steps a minute is typical walking.
- Then a 3-minute screener. CDC STEADI questions. Not a diagnosis.
- FallRisks. The fall you can see coming. fallrisks.com
Less data. More done.
Not a dashboard. One number, one action.
A fall-risk score you glance at and ignore is worse than useless. This isn’t a tracker — it’s one number and the exact next step, across three doors:
See it coming
A 3-minute STEADI screener puts a number on the risk you can’t feel yet — the reframe from fear to agency.
Start the screener ↓ Step 2 · healthgait.comKnow your number
The sixth vital sign, read from the phone in your pocket — one number, one trend, on-device. Not 200 metrics you ignore.
See your number → Step 3 · motionsole.comAct on it
See your gait live on camera, with the method published in the open. A clinician-review path is in design; nothing is billed.
The platform →Beyond the checklist
Their iPhone has been measuring their walking for years. Read the real trend in one minute — the data never leaves the device.
Sources: CDC Older Adult Fall Prevention, “About” and “Data” pages (read 2026-10-01). CDC falls data →
Fall Risk Screener
Answer Yes or No for each statement, for yourself or for the parent you are worried about. These are the CDC STEADI “Stay Independent” questions, scored the way CDC prints them. Open the checklist on its own page.
Someone just fell and is hurt, can’t get up, or hit their head? Call 911 now; this checklist can wait. Feeling hopeless or thinking about suicide? Call or text 988, any time.
What we ask — 12 Yes/No questions, no account
The wording and points are CDC’s, from the STEADI “Stay Independent” brochure; the checklist was validated by the VA Greater Los Angeles GRECC (Rubenstein et al., 2011). CDC brochure (PDF), checked 2026-09-29.
Your answers stay in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere. If you choose to save your result, it is kept in this browser, on this device only.
Some home-safety fixes may qualify pre-tax, case by case.
Grab bars, non-slip mats, motion nightlights, firm-soled shoes — safety items like these can qualify for HSA/FSA when a clinician documents medical necessity. ComfortCard keeps the letter, the receipts, and this screening together on one record.
See falls gear on ComfortCardA checklist tells you what to watch. A number tells you where you stand.
Their iPhone has been quietly measuring their walking for months. HealthGait turns that into one number in about 60 seconds — nothing leaves the device.
Get your gait numberAt this risk level, it helps to know what support at home would fit.
The co-op.care assessment needs no account. Answer a few questions about who needs help and what kind, and it shows what fits the situation. It won’t match you with a caregiver: co-op.care is forming in Boulder, and its paid care hasn’t started yet.
Take the care assessmentHoping an HSA or FSA can pay for care? That depends on the person and the care, case by case. A letter of medical necessity documents the need; it doesn’t unlock the funds. ComfortCard’s coverage check gives a straight answer, even when it’s no.
Knowing the risk is step one. The plan is what changes the outcome.
The strongest protection isn’t more worry — it’s having said, out loud and ahead of time, what you’d want and who speaks for you. It takes about 20 minutes.
Make the plan — write it down at CareGoals → Read: before the fall — why money isn’t a plan →The hard part is often the conversation. Practice it here: talking with a parent after a fall, and asking their doctor for a fall-risk check. Scripted, on this device, nothing sent.
Seeing the family doctor about it? Six questions give you a plan and a one-page summary to bring, on a related site: clinicalswipe.com/caregivers
This is the CDC STEADI self-check. A score is a screening signal, not a medical diagnosis, and a low score does not rule out a fall. The split at 8 (“higher”) is this site’s own, only to order the next steps; CDC uses one cut point, 4. Consult your primary care provider for a full fall risk evaluation.
A fall is not bad luck. It is a preventable event.
Falls have identifiable risk factors — balance, medication side effects, home environment, strength. Most of those factors are changeable. The consequences of waiting are not.
without vs. with an exercise program
That is 15% fewer people falling, and 23% fewer falls overall (Cochrane review of exercise for fall prevention, Sherrington et al. 2019). The review found no evidence the benefit differed for people already at higher risk.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gives exercise to prevent falls a Grade B recommendation for adults 65 and older at increased risk (JAMA, July 2024).
A screen tells you where they stand today. Their iPhone watches every day.
Their iPhone already records Walking Steadiness. The Gait Check reads the last six months of it in one minute and flags a decline, on the device. The sensor's already in their pocket.
Try the Gait Check →Risk Factors You Can Change
Most fall risk is addressable. Start with the category that matches the screener results above.
Medication side effects
Sleeping pills, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, opioids, antihistamines, and blood pressure medicines are among the medicines CDC's STEADI program links to falls. Do this: ask your provider or pharmacist for a medication review using the Beers Criteria — a prescriber may be able to stop, switch, or lower a medicine. Never stop one on your own. See the full drug-by-drug breakdown →
Home hazards
Loose rugs, poor lighting, no grab bars in the bathroom, cords across walkways — most environmental risks cause no symptoms until the fall itself. Do this: walk the home for 30 minutes and fix what you find. The 5-minute walk-through below shows exactly where to look.
Muscle weakness
Exercise programmes cut the number of falls by about a quarter (23%) and the number of people who fall by about a sixth (15%) — Cochrane review, 2019. The Otago Exercise Programme is one of the best-tested home versions. Do this, every day, next to a counter: 10 slow sit-to-stands, 10 heel raises, 10 side leg lifts on each side, and heel-to-toe standing while you brush your teeth. All four come from Otago; a physical therapist can prescribe the full programme.
Vision problems
Cataracts that reduce depth perception are correctable, and bifocals are a specific known risk on stairs — the bottom step looks closer than it is. Do this: schedule an annual eye exam, and if bifocals are worn outdoors, ask about single-lens distance glasses for walking outside — in a trial they cut falls for people often active outdoors, but added outdoor falls for people who seldom went out.
Foot problems and footwear
Numbness from peripheral neuropathy — common with diabetes — is a direct balance signal, and bare feet or socks on hard floors add risk on top of it. Do this: wear firm-soled, closed-toe shoes indoors, every day, not just for outings.
Social isolation
Isolated older adults move less, weaken faster, and fall more. Do this: ask your local Area Agency on Aging about A Matter of Balance, an 8-session group class. It is designed to ease fear of falling and keep people active, and trials show it helps with both in the months after the class; they have not shown a clear drop in falls.
The 5-Minute Home Walk-Through
Walk the paths your parent takes every day. These six checks catch most of the home hazards that cause falls.
Count the rugs
Every loose rug is a fall waiting to happen. Remove them, or tape every edge with double-sided carpet tape. No exceptions. Rug tape & non-slip fixes →
Walk the hallway at 2am
Turn off every light. If you can't see the path from bed to bathroom, neither can they. Put a motion-sensor nightlight at every turn. Nightlights, pre-tax where eligible →
Sit on the toilet and stand
Try standing using only one hand. If it's hard for you, it's harder for them. Grab bars beside the toilet and in the shower give a hand to push against. Grab bars →
Look up every medication
Search "[medication name] fall risk." Blood pressure meds, sleep aids, antihistamines, and antidepressants all make the list. Bring the list to the next provider visit. The drug-by-drug breakdown →
Test the bath mat with wet feet
If it slides, replace it today. Bath safety gear →
Count cord crossings
Phone chargers, lamp cords, extension cords across walkways. Each one is a trip hazard. Route them along walls and secure them. The room-by-room checklist →
This is the five-minute version. For the full walk-through — every room from the bathroom to the outdoor entryway, each check with a priority flag and a fix — open the room-by-room Home Safety Assessment →
What CDC STEADI actually says about each risk factor
The CDC's STEADI program (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries) identifies the modifiable risk factors with the strongest clinical evidence. Here is what each factor means — and what specifically reduces it.
4+ medications, or any sedative/hypnotic, antihypertensive, antidepressant, or anticholinergic. Each extra medicine is linked to a little more risk: about 2% higher odds of a hospital admission after a fall per additional drug, in a Swedish national study of adults 70+. Blood pressure medicines can cause a drop in blood pressure on standing; sedatives can cause drowsiness and confusion.
Sources: Morin 2019 · CDC STEADI
In one 93-person trial, slowly withdrawing psychotropic (mind-acting) medicines cut the rate of falls by 66%, though stopping them for good proved very difficult. A program helping family doctors review prescriptions lowered the odds of a fall by 39% at 12 months. Pooled trials of medication reviews on their own have not shown fewer people falling, so pair a review with other steps. Ask the primary care provider or pharmacist for a medication review focused on fall risk.
Sources: Campbell 1999 · Pit 2007 · Seppala 2022
Inability to hold single-leg stance 10 seconds, or Timed Up-and-Go >12 seconds. Reduced proprioception and slower neuromuscular response time make corrective steps fail when a stumble begins.
Exercise programs cut the number of falls by 23% and the number of people who fall by 15% (a Cochrane review of 59 and 63 trials). Programs that challenged balance and added up to more than 3 hours of exercise a week had larger effects: 39% fewer falls. Tai chi: 20% fewer people falling across the review's 8 tai chi trials. In one trial of 670 high-risk adults, a tai ji quan class had 31% fewer falls than a conventional mixed exercise class.
Sources: Cochrane review 2019 · Sherrington 2017 · Li 2018
Loose rugs, poor lighting, lack of grab bars, high thresholds, clutter on stairs. Nearly 55% of falls in community-dwelling adults happen inside the home (CDC WISQARS 2023). The bathroom and bedroom are the highest-risk zones.
Home fall-hazard programs cut falls by 38% in people at higher risk, such as those who fell in the past year or were recently in hospital, but showed no effect in people not selected for risk. An earlier Cochrane review found these programs appear to work better when an occupational therapist delivers them.
Sources: Cochrane review 2023 · Cochrane review 2012
More than half (54%) of 4,031 community-living adults aged 70+ reported fear of falling in a Dutch population study (Zijlstra et al., Age & Ageing 2007). Fear causes activity restriction, which accelerates deconditioning and paradoxically increases actual fall risk.
This 8-session group class uses cognitive-behavioral methods to ease fear of falling. In trials it increased activity and eased fear of falling, though in the original trial the gains were modest and faded without booster sessions. A Dutch trial also found fewer people falling more than once, but no clear drop in the number who fell at least once. MaineHealth, which licenses the program, lists 595 organizations offering it in 47 states. Ask: "Does my county Area Agency on Aging offer A Matter of Balance?"
Sources: Tennstedt 1998 · Zijlstra 2009 · MaineHealth
Uncorrected refractive error, cataracts, or first-eye post-cataract glasses adjustment all increase fall risk. Bifocals specifically impair depth perception on stairs — the bottom step appears closer than it is.
In women over 70, cataract surgery on the first eye within about a month, instead of after a year's wait, cut the rate of falls by 34% over 12 months. For regular multifocal wearers, single-lens distance glasses for walking outdoors cut falls in people often active outdoors but increased outdoor falls in people who seldom went out. Medicare Part B can cover cataract surgery and a yearly diabetic eye exam for people with diabetes, but not routine eye exams for glasses.
Sources: Harwood 2005 · Haran 2010 · Medicare.gov
Sources are listed in each row. The effects come from peer-reviewed trials, reviews and population studies of older adults living in the community. Individual results vary.
Go deeper
The screener above is the entry point. Two companion references cover the rest — the clinical evidence behind it, and the program directory for acting on it.
Clinical reference →
Special tests, cutoffs, and evidence-based exercise dosing — TUG, Berg, 30-second chair stand, SPPB, gait speed, plus Otago, LiFE, and Sherrington’s dose-response parameters. Built for the clinician doing the evaluation.
Programs & resources →
Otago, Tai Chi, and A Matter of Balance — the evidence-based programs that reduce falls, plus home-modification funding and tools for healthcare providers.
Falls are preventable. The conversation feels hard.
Telling a parent they are a fall risk feels like telling them they are old. Most families avoid it until after something happens. By then the options are narrower.
A fall is not bad luck. It is a preventable event with identifiable risk factors — balance, medication side effects, home environment, strength. Most of those factors are changeable.
Frame it as your worry, not their weakness. Most parents will say yes to that. The assessment above takes three minutes. Start there.