The Correlation Of Walking Capacity And Perception Of Fall With Activity & Participation Essay

Current literature has exposed many risk factors for falls. There are both intrinsic risk factors and extrinsic risk factors. Intrinsic risk factors include changes that come with age, such as gait issues, urinary incontinence, and fear of falling. Extrinsic risk factors include those that are related to the physical environment such as improper use of assistive devices and poor floor surfaces. No matter the type of risk factor, it is crucial to conduct a risk assessment when trying to prevent falls from occurring. Pearson and Coburn (2011) found that identifying risk factor for falls will help identify appropriate prevention strategies. Fall risk assessments help determine Talk about

Exercises and physical activity have been associated with numerous health benefits including reducing incidences of falls and injuries among the elderly and the geriatric population. Appropriately exercise programs and cardiovascular fitness in older people improve strength and balance. The interventions included strengthening, endurance, balance, flexibility exercises, Tai Chi, stand up/step down procedure and walking exercises. In the first research, the findings were that program targeting balance, leg strength, and freezing gait were only effective in people with milder illnesses, as opposed to more serious disorders like Parkinson’s disease. The study was done for a period of 2 years. In the second research, the findings showed that a multi-component enhanced physical performance of the community indwelling adults but did not translate to psychological outcomes or reduced rates of falling.

Increased falls on a particular unit became a concern. The unit formed a fall prevention committee. This committee used evidence-based practice to create a plan and interventions to help reduce falls. The fall prevention committee then monitored trends in the fall prevention process, fall rates, medications, surgeries and disease comorbidities that were associated with fall. Implementing these techniques had a significate reduction of patient falls.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund’s Fall Prevention Program aims to implement programs that have been proven to reduce the incidence of falls in older adults and adults with disabilities. It also promotes the importance of fall prevention strategies and provides education on the risk of falls and how to prevent them (U.S Department of Health

George P. Forrest, (2012) A comparison of the functional independence measure and Morse Fall Scale as tools to assess risk of fall on an Inpatient Rehabilitation

The functional independence measure (FIM) was utilized to identify patients who are at a high risk for fall and found that patients who fell had a lower admission and discharge FIM scores than the ones who had not fallen; they also found that those with lower FIM scores were stroke rehabilitation patient and had the highest rate of fall. FIM is defined as a measurement of disability specific to patients in rehabilitation; it has has 18 categories broken down into motor and cognitive components with each category scored on a scale of 1 for total dependence to 7 for total independence. The authors of the research article determined that FIM score have significance in predicting patients who are at a highest risk of falls and is more appropriate to aid in implementing interventions. With the above discovery, Salamon, Victory & Bobay (2012) undertook retrospective pilot study to compare the Morse Fall Scale scores and components of the FIM. The result from the pilot study yielded several important correlations between the Morse Fall Scale and the FIM scores. The study revealed that patient with cognitive impairments, and those with decreased ability to expressed needs are more likely to fall and no correlation with comprehension was found with the

The evidence included in this summary is from Franco, J. R., Jacobs, K., Inzerillo, C., & Kluzik, J. (2012). The effect of the Nintendo Wii Fit and exercise in improving balance and quality of life in community dwelling elders. Technology & Health Care, 20(2), 95-115. The study addressed whether or not improving balance through exercise decreased the risk of falls. The study compared two types of exercise programs for improving balance; the Nintendo Wii Fit and the Matter of Balance program. The methodology included dividing residents of an independent living senior facility into three groups. The Wii Fit group and the Matter of Balance group consisted of 11 participants and the third group, the Control group, consisted of 10 participants. Results were determined based on one-way ANOVAS in which variation within each sample was compared to the variation between the samples to test whether there is greater variation between the groups. Assessments from the outcome measurements were not statistically significant according to the study. The Berg Balance Scale tool measured the pre and post balance of the participants resulting in little change with the strength of this assessment evidenced by (p=0.837). The Tinetti Gait and Balance Assessment of mobility, balance, gait, and fall risk of participants registered minimal pre and post change with the

My target population for this project was geared towards the elderly group. "About 40% of this age group living at home will fall at least once each year, and about 1 in 40 of them will be hospitalized. Of those admitted to the hospital after a fall, only about half will be alive a year later."(Rubenstein, 2006) This group although not the highest incidence of falls but rather the highest susceptibility to injury from falls.

With the process of aging, movement, gait, flexibility and reflexes are altered. Reduced stability and gait is an increasing risk factor in older adults that are at risk for falls. Research studies compare the mobility of older adults that have fallen and compared to non-fallers and have determined that once an older adult falls, there is an increase in hesitance when it comes to mobility. Since the older adult then reduces their mobility as a result of fear of falls, they will ultimately decreased their functional capacity and result in gait unsteadiness. This will consequently increase the risk of falls in the older adult since they are more apprehensive to walking independently and performing activities of daily living on their own (Sapir,

With the numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors leading to falls, it is probable to regard each factor and recognize constructive steps and safe interventions proven effective for preventing falls. Here are several interventions that can be employed in the best interest of the medical center:

“RNAO Falls Prevention CPG” has been developed and frequently reviewed by a panel of nurses and other health professions with expertise and interest in falls and falls related injuries in the older population (Brouwers, et al., 2010, P.18; RNAO, 2011, P.13 ). In addition, it introduces some general principles indicating the authors’ intention of considering the views and preferences of the target population: “The client’s perspective, individual desires and needs are central to the application of the guideline; The over-arching principle that guides the intervention choices is the principle of maintaining the highest quality of life possible while striving for a safe environment and practices. Risk taking, autonomy, and self-determination are supported, respected, and considered in the plan of interventions; Individuals, their significant other(s) and the care team engage in assessment and interventions through a collaborative process” (RNAO, 2011, P.8

Falls are a serious problem on a national and global level, but falls do not have to be a fact of life in the aging process. Falls are almost entirely preventable. The topic of falls prevention was chosen as my research question for study due to several reasons. The first is that falls represent a serious problem for the aging community. Secondly, falls are preventable. Something can be done to reduce the number of falls experienced by elderly persons.

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.

This search has revealed several themes associated with the use of Tai Chi exercises in the prevention of falls. The first themes identified the differences seen in the activity level of the individual who are at risk of falling and the beneficial effect of implementing a Tai Chi exercise program that will lower the risk of falls seen among the elderly population. Tai Chi has shown a remarkable improvement in strength, balance and coordination in the elderly adult patients that lessen their chances of falling.

Falling is inevitable at some point in life, and although most of the time falls are not serious, some can be life-threatening. Falls are a danger to both physical and psychological well-being because they may diminish a person’s ability to maintain an active and independent lifestyle.1 There are many factors that place individuals at risk for falls such as age, muscle weakness, difficulty with balance or walking, psychological diagnosis, and several medical conditions.1,2 Approximately one-third of people over the age of 65 fall at least once a year.3 Individuals that are status post stroke are at an increased risk of falls, making falls assessment and prevention a common priority for clinicians treating this population.1,2 Therefore, to direct the experimental methods and build on a basis of previous literature on this topic, the search began using OneSearch, CINAHL, PubMed, and