Falls in Later Life: Status Passage and Preferred Identities as a New Orientation

Abstract

This article argues that medical hegemony has constructed a dominant discourse around falls in later life. This medical dominance has subjected the fall to randomized control trials (RCTs) in an attempt to evaluate post-fall interventions especially in older populations. However, there has been a paucity of literature from any discipline other than medicine. This article attempts to rectify this imbalance by utilizing status passage and preferred identities as sociological theories that can offer insights into falls. First, it is suggested that status passage offers a useful theoretical starting point to develop critical insights into ‘what it means to fall in later life’. Second, analogies are drawn from the work of Charmaz in attempting to understand the role of preferred identities after a fall. Finally, it is suggested that the fall is a powerful metaphor that perpetuates the homogeneous view of decremental decline in older age which serves to reinforce ageism within health and welfare agencies.