CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the number of senior citizens who are homeless continues to grow, one local medical center tells WCNC Charlotte they're seeing more injuries in older people.
They say more seniors are suffering from falls with data from the CDC showing the risk of being injured in a fall dramatically increases with age.
"I fell on my right side and I bruised that muscle," Gwendolyn Cooper, a senior patient at Dedicated Senior Medical Center, said.
Cooper said she knows firsthand what it's like to have an accident at an older age and says it's a terrible experience.
Dedicated Senior Medical Center said there are already health disparities among seniors in our area, and the increase in the number of seniors who are homeless makes that gap even wider.
"We actually do take care of patients that currently live in the shelters, and we are seeing that more and more as rent is going up and housing has become unaffordable," Dr. Latoya Fulton, the medical director at Dedicated Senior Medical Center, said.
Fulton said the most common injuries are falls and dehydration from being out in the heat.
She said older people are more fragile and experiencing an injury could be life-changing.
"It could cause a hip fracture and a lot of times if an elder person breaks their hip they don’t usually come back from that," Fulton said.
That’s why she said they’re working to help many older people 55 and up get back on the right track both mentally and physically.
"We work to get them with social workers, case workers, help them find housing and provide what they need at that moment," she said.
Fulton said they're willing to work with seniors even without insurance, all in hopes of taking off those who have taken care of us.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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