Falls Prevention Interventions Report: Strategies to Prevent Falls

This report examines interventions to prevent falls and fall-related injuries in the elderly population. It highlights the significant risk factors contributing to falls, including vitamin deficiencies, cognitive impairments, medication usage, muscle weakness, and poor posture. The report emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach, including identifying high-risk patients, implementing preventive measures, and promoting physiotherapy. It references community guidelines based on evidence-based interventions, focusing on the applicability, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of these interventions. The report underscores the need for interventions to be acceptable to the affected population and to alter outcomes in terms of falls or fall-related injuries. The document also mentions the importance of rigorous methodologies, such as randomized controlled trials, to assess the efficacy of interventions while acknowledging the challenges of applying these methodologies in real-world settings. The report concludes by advocating for the development and implementation of falls prevention models of care to improve the quality of life and health outcomes for older adults.

Vitamin deficiencies like
Vitamin D deficiency
responsible for reduced
bone density and medical
conditions like
osteoporosis.
Poor postures and
gaits in elderly
individuals (Kamińska,
Brodowski &
Karakiewicz, 2015).
Increased prevalence
of chronic diseases and
associated medical
conditions.
Fall prone areas
Increased usage of
Psychoactive medications
resulting in delusions and
confusions leading to
reduced cognitive senses.
Visual , hearing and
other cognitive
Impairments.
About 4.5% of admissions due to falls of elderly individuals occur per year for men and 7.9% per year
for women. Falls can be markers of poor health and declining function, and they are often associated
with significant morbidity. The elderly population suffering from cognitive impairments, vitamin
deficiencies, combinations of medications, muscle weakness, reduced bone densities, poor postures
and gaits, are thus highly prone to falls (Kalu, Vlachantoni & Norman, 2019).
RISK FACTORS
How do old people fall in dwellings?

A multidisciplinary team with a multifactorial
approach, is the best way to help deal with
falls in elderly populations. These teams
would require to identify the patients with
high risk of falling, ensure the installation and
implementation of preventive measures,
motivate the ones suffering form fall injuries
as well as ensuring they take up
physiotherapy sessions to help regain their
mobility.
Serious
injuries Fractures Hip
fractures
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
Percentage of injuries from falls
Percentage
Source: By creator
Source: (www.injuryresearch.bc.ca, 2019)
Source: (www.injuryresearch.bc.ca, 2019)

References
Kalu, M. E., Vlachantoni, A., & Norman, K. E. (2019). Knowledge about risk factors for falls
and practice about fall prevention in older adults among physiotherapists in
Nigeria. Physiotherapy research international, 24(1), e1742.
Kamińska, M., Brodowski, J., & Karakiewicz, B. (2015). Fall risk factors in community-
dwelling elderly depending on their physical function, cognitive status and symptoms of
depression. International journal of environmental research and public health, 12(4),
3406-3416.
www.injuryresearch.bc.ca. (2019). Seniors' Falls Prevention. Retrieved 28 September 2019,
from https://www.injuryresearch.bc.ca/quick-facts/seniors-falls-prevention/