Exploring the Outcomes Of an Occupational Therapy Led Falls Education Group in the Acute Hospital Setting.

Background: Falls in older people can have life changing consequences, and most are likely to suffer serious injuries, disability, psychological consequences and death following a fall. The risk of falling increases with age with one in three older people sustaining a fall every year and two-thirds falling again within six months (1). Falls remain the most commonly reported incident within the HSE and HSE funded services with 35,187 falls reported in 2018, including 15,773 in acute hospitals and 15,027 in social care (1). In St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Occupational Therapists’ working in the Medicine for the Older Person’s service provide falls education to patients on a one-to-one level, however, this can be time consuming. There is emerging evidence that falls prevention groups delivered in hospital which include patient education can reduce falls and associated injuries, while also increasing knowledge and capability amongst older adults (2).

Method: Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used. The falls efficacy scale was administered to participants’ pre and post group to measure any changes in their fear of falling after falls education. A post group questionnaire was also completed by participants to gain qualitative information regarding their learning outcomes from the group.

Results: The falls efficacy scale recorded that 66.6% (n=4) of participants had a reduced fear of falling post group. In the post group questionnaire, 66.6% (n=4) of participants identified changes they would make to their home environment on discharge based on information provided in the group.

Conclusion: Falls are the cause of injury in 75% of older adults, with 5.2% of hospital bed occupied due to fall related injuries in older adults. This review aimed to showcase the impact of falls education delivered in the inpatient setting as a means of increasing knowledge and awareness of the risk factors contributing to falls. The falls education group reduced the majority (66.6%) of participant’s fear of falling which was accredited to increased insight into the risk factors and impact of falls. The majority of participants reported that they increased their knowledge around falls and would make changes to their home environment after attending the group. Overall the group helped to reduce fear of falling amongst the majority of participants and was an effective use of therapist’s clinical time.

Future Implications: Given the prevalence of falls amongst older adults, it is imperative to ensure Occupational Therapy staff contribute to reducing falls through inpatient falls education. A standardized falls education pathway would be beneficial. Group education is also an effective use of therapist’s clinical time. However, these findings are preliminary and further research is recommended.

1.Health Service Executive (2021). Falls 2020. Available at: https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/qid/nationalsafetyprogrammes/falls-2020.html (Accessed 16th September 2021)

2.Heng, H., Jazayeri, D., Shaw, L., Kiegaldie, D., Hill, A.M. and Morris, M.E. (2020) ‘Hospital falls prevention with patient education: a scoping review’, BMC Geriatrics, 20(1), pp. 140. Available at: https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-020-01515-w#citeas (Accessed 15th September 2021).