Concept Adaptation and Pilot Application of an Interdisciplinary Intervention for the Prevention of Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Falls are a major health problem in older adults, leading to serious injuries and burdening their quality of life and functionality. Social isolation is predictive of falls, so a need for effective distance interventions is of great importance in this vulnerable population. Methods: An interdisciplinary programme for falls prevention was designed in community-dwelling older adults at falls risk, including physical exercise, nutritional education and falls prevention training. Screening measurements took place before and after the intervention for a complete assessment of the participants' physical, mental and social state. The implementation of the programme coincided with the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this led us to a forceful transformation to a pilot digital programme. Thus, the new version of the programme had driven us to minimize face-to face contact and at the same time ensure that the participants' healthcare and social support needs were addressed. Moreover, new engagement techniques had to be used. Therefore, a digital platform was created and hosted by the FFN Greece website and 6 zoom teleconferences were organized with health professionals (orthopaedic, social worker, geriatrician, nutritionist). In addition, the participants could communicate with a psychologist and had zoom dancing lessons once a week. The digital educational material was adapted in order to provide the participants with health information regarding copying with falls incidents during the pandemic home restriction. Results: 20 people participated in the programme (95% women, mean age 69 years). Among the most important results of the intervention were The reduction of Fear of Falls (FES-I mean score before and after the intervention 28.1 vs 26.3, respectively);The improvement of important aspects of quality of life (SF-36 Physical Functioning mean score and SF-36 Emotional Well-being mean score before and after the intervention 81.8 vs 88.2 and 75.0 vs 90.2, respectively);The improvement of nutritional habits (Mediterranean Diet Scale mean score before and after the intervention 32.2 vs 34.2, respectively). Conclusion: This pilot programme indicates that health professionals need to be vigilant in adapting falls prevention programmes effectively, even in unpredicted situations like the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The results were encouraging, since there were no falls incidents, the physical, the emotional well-being of the participants and their falls related knowledge and skills were improved.