141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

289749
Impact of a comprehensive falls prevention initiative on older adults and health care professionals

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Mary Gallant, PhD, MPH , Department of Health Policy, Management, & Behavior, University at Albany School of Public Health, Rensselaer, NY
Kelly Winjum, MPH , University at Albany School of Public Health
Christine Klotz, MHA , Health Foundation for Western and Central New York
Amanda Norton, MSW , Health Foundation for Western and Central New York
Step Up to Stop Falls™ is a falls prevention learning collaborative sponsored by the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York in seven counties in upstate New York. In each county, a coalition of community agencies coordinated a multidimensional initiative involving a variety of evidence-based fall prevention programming, including exercise, home assessment/modification, community education, and/or health care provider education. A cross-collaborative evaluation was conducted to evaluate the reach and impact of Step Up to Stop Falls™ activities over an 18-month period. Pre-post assessments examined the impact of the collaborative on fall-related outcomes. In all, 1018 older adults participated in exercise programs, 591 participated in home assessments, 464 participated in educational programs, and 183 health care providers engaged in provider education. Results indicate a significant improvement in Timed-Up-and-Go scores among exercise participants, and 60% of participants in home assessment programs resolved 100% of home hazards identified. Older adults who participated in educational programs demonstrated a significant increase in their belief that they could do things to reduce fall risk. Health care providers demonstrated a significant increase in the extent to which they agreed they could do things to reduce their patients' fall risk, and significant changes in their intent to initiate conversations about falls and to obtain falls history among their patients. This project demonstrates that a comprehensive multi-county initiative can be an effective way to implement evidence-based falls prevention strategies and reduce fall risk factors for older adults, as well as change health care providers' intentions to address falls.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the evaluation of a comprehensive falls prevention initiative. Identify the impact of a comprehensive falls prevention initiative on falls-related outcomes among older adults and health care providers.

Keywords: Aging, Injury Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a researcher with expertise in falls prevention and health promotion among older adults. I have conducted externally-funded evaluations of falls prevention programs.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.