Falls Prevention

In a classic definition, falls are untoward events which result in the person coming to rest unintentionally on the ground or another lower surface (Bok, et al., 2015). Falls, can be a devastating source of morbidity and mortality for the older adult. According to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) Report, “Falls Among the Older Adult,” more than one third of adults aged 65 and older fall each year in the United States and falls are the leading cause of injury deaths. Falls are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma in the older adult population (CDC Report). Unfortunately, the rate of fall-related deaths

Falls are a common and complex geriatric syndrome that cause considerable mortality, morbidity, reduced functioning, and premature nursing home admissions. Falls have multiple precipitating causes and predisposing risk factors, which make their diagnosis, treatment, and prevention a difficult clinical challenge. Identifying effective interventions to prevent falls and fall-related injuries among older adults is a major area of research and policy development in geriatrics. Several published clinical guidelines review the evidence for fall prevention strategies and provide recommendations for assessment and intervention (Rubenstein & Josephson, 2006).

“In the United Sates, unintentional falls are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries for people older than 65 years (Hughes, 2008).” This illustrates a problem that requires addressing. “Rates of falls vary across hospitals and units however, the highest rates are found in neuroscience (6.12-8.83/1000 patient days) and medical (3.48-6.12 falls/1000 patient days) units” (Mion, 2014). Older adults are usually those most affected and their falls are

Elimination of patient falls is not an easy task otherwise they would have been eliminated by now. Patient falls unfortunately continue to be a challenge and occur within the hospital and nursing home settings at alarming and sometimes deadly rates. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1,800 older adults living in nursing homes die each year from fall-related injuries. Survivors frequently sustain injuries resulting in permanent disability and reduced quality of life. Annually, a typical nursing home with 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls and many falls go unreported (CDC, 2015). Falls occur more often in nursing homes because patients are generally weaker, have more chronic illnesses, have difficulty ambulating, memory issues,

Elimination of patient falls is not an easy task otherwise they would have been eliminated by now. Patient falls unfortunately continue to be a challenge and occur within the hospital and nursing home settings at alarming and sometimes deadly rates. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1,800 older adults living in nursing homes die each year from fall-related injuries. Survivors frequently sustain injuries resulting in permanent disability and reduced quality of life. Annually, a typical nursing home with 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls and many falls go unreported (CDC, 2015). Falls occur more often in nursing homes because patients are generally weaker, have more chronic illnesses, have difficulty ambulating, memory issues,

Falls are highly common amongst the elderly, particularly those who lack mobility, are in hospital, or are living in a nursing home. When an elderly person falls, their activities of daily living may be impacted due to injuries sustained from the fall. It is essential that precautions are put in place to prevent falls in all settings. This essay will discuss the statistics surrounding falls, prevention strategies, and the impacts of a fall on a patient’s ability to complete activities of daily living.

Problem statement: According to Quality Improvement Organization Health Services Advisory Group, Alabama’s state average for falls without injury is 41.9% with the National average being slightly higher at 45%, falls with injury in Alabama is 3.2% with the National average being 3.4%. Research done by the Alzheimer’s Association (2016) has revealed that “People with dementia are at risk of falls because of their neurological impairments.” Another study completed by Esstmann discusses “The etiology of orthostatic hypotension should be investigated for older adults with known orthostatic

Falls in the elderly is a significant health problem, which can lead to severe issues such as morbidity and mortality. The topic of falls within the elderly was chosen so that the many interventions, risks, and awareness strategies can be further explored within this paper. Throughout clinical practice I was intrigued by the number of patients that have fallen and the strategies that health care organizations take to prevent falls. However, I was concerned by the lack of awareness in the community related to falls in the elderly. The topic of falls in the elderly is multifactor in the sense that there are many intersectional factors that can result in falls. The significant impact of falls in the elderly and the consequences that falls have

In the article, “In-Hospital Predictors of Falls in Community-Dwelling Individuals After Stroke in the First 6 Months After a Baseline Evaluation: A Prospective Cohort Study” we identified were that twenty-four (36%) patients fell within the 6-month period whether they were at home or in a rehab facility. Unfortunately, there is nothing physically medical staff can do to change to condition one suffers from a stroke but with strength training, physical therapy, proper lifting equipment and assistance, along with close monitoring falls can be decreased.

‘A fall is an event that results in a person coming to rest inadvertently on the ground or floor or other lower level’.[1] In Maryland, each year more people 65 or older die from falls and associated complications than motor vehicle accidents & suicide combined, making it the leading cause of injury related death and admission to hospital in this age group. [2] To address this problem and as part of the ongoing revision of the current prevention protocols, this memo is written to the office of Dr Sharfstein, the Secretary Maryland department of health and mental hygiene

The participants were 106 with chronic stroke: 25 with a history of falling in the last year and 81 without a history of falling. To assess validity, participants in the stroke group and 48 healthy subjects performed the Mini-BESTest as well as four balance measures (BBS, One Leg Stand, Functional Reach Test and Timed Up and Go Test). The Mini-BESTest was repeated again for the 30 participants after 10 days in order to determine its reliability. The results showed a close relationship between scores on the Mini-BESTest and the other outcome measures. The Mini-BESTest was able to detect the difference between the fallers and non-fallers groups. More importantly the Mini-BESTest showed less floor and ceiling effect than the BBS (Tsang et al.,

The World Health Organization (2012) define falls as “an event which results in a person coming to rest inadvertently on the ground or floor or other lower level” (WHO, 2012). They can happen to anyone but are more likely to happen to those over 65 years (Rubenstein L. 2016). Individuals who have already fallen are more likely to fall and sustain an injury than those who haven’t (Rubenstein L. 2016). Because falls are not a result of just one cause, they stem from a myriad of reasons further inhibiting the prevention of them (Rubenstein L. 2016). The more we understand about falls and its complexities (Rubenstein L. 2016); the emotional, physical, and financial consequences, as well as the many ways we can prevent them; the more we are able to enjoy a high quality of life in our later years.

Falls are the leading cause of medical complications in health care facilities in the United States. Statistics from The Joint Commission shows that hundreds of thousands of patients fall in hospitals every year, with 30-50% of those falls resulting in injury (“Preventing falls and fall-related injuries,” 2015). Furthermore, the consequences of falls are that injured patients will require longer hospital stay leading to an increase in healthcare costs (“Preventing falls and fall-related injuries,” 2015). To prevent falls, health care facilities have implemented evidence-based intervention strategies such as fall risk assessment tools and faster call light response time.

Falls can be categorized into unanticipated physiologic, anticipated physiologic, accidental or intentional (as cited in Cox et al., 2015). Furthermore, the causes of inpatient falls include patients’ intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors as well as organizational or workforce factors (Cox et al., 2015). The methods of fall prevention are tailored to patients’ unique intrinsic or extrinsic risks; however, fall prevention tactics are not created for an individual, they are used in various patient populations (Cox et al., 2015). Moreover, the scale from the fall risk assessment tools, for example: Morse Falls Risk Assessment Scale and the Hendrich I Falls Risk Assessment Scale, do not specify the type of fall for individual, making it hard to design or direct fall prevention approaches by individual 's physiological or environmental risks (Cox et al., 2015). According to Cox et al. (2015), "there is a clear need to gain a broader

According to the CDC (2015), the unintentional falls are the leading cause of both nonfatal injuries and fatal injuries requiring emergency treatment in adults and older adults. Moreover, the consequence of falls leads to more hospital admission, disability, and deaths than any other type of trauma (CDC, 2015). Furthermore, the CDC reported the cost of falls that fall-related injuries are among the 20 most expensive medical conditions, and the Medicare pays for around 78% of the costs of falls (CDC, 2014). Therefore, the unintentional fall-related injury caused by unsafe environments may be the vital health issue in that