Falls Prevention Scanning Bulletin Volume 10 Issue 8

Multifactorial falls prevention programme compared with usual care in UK care homes for older people: multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation

Source: The BMJ

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Date of publication: Vol. 375, 07 December 2021

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: Objectives To determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of a multifactorial fall prevention programme compared with usual care in long term care homes.

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

Advice by mail is as effective as targeted interventions in preventing injuries from falls

Source: The BMJ

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Date of publication: Viol. 375, 07 December 2021

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: This NIHR Alert is based on: Lamb S, Bruce J, Hossain A. Screening and intervention to prevent falls and fractures in older people. N Engl J Med 2020;383:19.
To read the full Alert, go to: https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/postal-advice-prevents-fall-related-fractures/

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

Falls detection and prevention systems in home care for older adults: myth or reality?

Source: JMIR Aging https://aging.jmir.org/

Follow this link for the abstract

Date of publication: Vol. 4, no. 4, Oct-Dec 2021

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: There is an exponential increase in the range of digital products and devices promoting aging in place, in particular, devices aiming at preventing or detecting falls. However, their deployment is still limited and only few studies have been carried out in population-based settings owing to the technological challenges that remain to be overcome and the barriers that are specific to the users themselves, such as the generational digital divide and acceptability factors specific to the older adult population. To date, scarce studies consider these factors. To capitalize technological progress, the future step should be to better consider these factors and to deploy, in a broader and more ecological way, these technologies designed for older adults receiving home care to assess their effectiveness in real life.

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

A qualitative study of older adults’ facilitators, barriers, and cues to action to engage in falls prevention using health belief model constructs

Source: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics

Follow this link for the abstract

Date of publication: Vol. 99, March-April 2022

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults. Decreasing falls is highly dependent on engagement in fall prevention activities. The Health Belief Model (HBM) theoretical framework was used to explore older adults’ perceptions about falls prevention. 

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

Weather, built environment, or personal factors: predictors of walking by independent living residents with frailty

Source: Innovation in Aging

Follow this link for the abstract

Date of publication: 17 December 2021, Vol. 5 Iss. supp 1, pps. 449-450

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: Environmental factors influence older adult physical activity. However, the evidence about which factors lead to increased physical activity is mixed and few have studied how these factors affect those with frailty or living in retirement communities. This study investigated how environmental and weather factors influence physical activity among pre-frail and frail older adults residing in independent living retirement communities. 

 Length of publication: two pages

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

A Digital Health Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults: Feasibility Study

Source: JMIR Formative Research

Follow this link for the abstract

Date of publication: 23 December 2021, Vol. 5 No. 12

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: About 1 in 3 adults aged 65 and older falls annually. Exercise interventions are effective in reducing the fall risk and fall rate among older adults. In 2020, startup company Age Bold Inc. disseminated the Bold Fall Prevention Program, aiming to reduce falls among older adults through a remotely delivered, digital exercise program.
Objective: We conducted a feasibility study to assess the delivery of the Bold Fall Prevention Program remotely and evaluate the program’s impact on 2 primary outcomes—annualized fall rate and weekly minutes of physical activity (PA)—over 6 months of follow-up.

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

Pilot testing of nurse led multimodal intervention for falls prevention

Source: Geriatric Nursing

Follow this link for the abstract

Date of publication: January-February 2022, Vol. 43 pps 242-248

 Publication type: Journal article

In a nutshell: Patient fall-risk awareness, self-efficacy, and engagement in fall-prevention activities are important aspects of fall-prevention. The current pilot study examined the effect of a nurse-led multimodal intervention on hospitalized adults’ levels of fall risk awareness, self-efficacy, and engagement in fall prevention. Sixty hospitalized older adults in an acute care setting in Florida participated in the study. There were significant differences [pre-test (M = 19.02, SD=1.152) and post-test (M = 21.71, SD=0.527); t (17.355) = 58, p≤.001] on level of fall risk awareness in fall prevention. There were no significant findings for fall self-efficacy and engagement. Study findings suggested that the higher the fall self-efficacy, the higher the engagement. Future research is needed to examine self-efficacy and engagement for fall prevention in larger diverse cohorts of hospitalized older adults.

 Length of publication: 6 pages

Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

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