Introduction

Falls in older adults are very common and can have a major impact on an older person’s quality of life. In addition to causing physical and psychological injury, a fall can increase health care costs, and the resulting loss of independence can lead to admission into a long-term care facility. Many older adults who experience a serious injury from a fall will die within one year of the injury.

The purpose of this manual is to increase knowledge about falls, their causes, and ways to prevent them in order to help decrease the incidence of falls within the community. Information is provided on identification of risk factors and assessment of the individual and the individual’s physical environment. Interventions for reducing the incidence of falls and strategies for developing a falls prevention program are also included. Sample assessment tools, environmental checklists, exercise programs, and educational programs have been added to facilitate program development. Health professionals working with older adults in the community should focus on early identification of people at risk for falling and can play an important role in fall prevention by intervening to reduce the risk of falls.

Unfortunately, falls are under-recognized. Many older adults and health care providers are unaware of the risk factors for falling. If risk factors for falls can be identified and interventions taken to reduce the risks, the result may be an improvement in the health and quality of life of our rapidly increasing older population.

Instructional Notes

The manual consists of three modules with an introduction sheet before each module.
Instructional aids include:

• Note pages with slides at the top and scripted notes under the slide. The notes are suggestions for what to say. These are recommendations only and can be changed to meet the individual needs of the instructor.

•Slide pages from which transparencies can be made.

•Sample assessment forms, checklists, exercise programs, educational materials, descriptions of successful fall prevention programs and a resource list which can be used to obtain additional information. This material may be copied and distributed to participants as handouts.

•Pre- and post-tests for measuring learning outcomes.

VIEW THE MODULES:

Module 1

Module 2

Module 3