Fall Prevention Care Management: Implementation and Outcomes of a Project to Reduce Fall Risks of Older Adults in Assisted Living Facilities.

BACKGROUND: Accidental falls are common among older adults and may lead to devastating consequences. One promising approach to reduce falls is to engage older adults in fall risk reduction through care management. PURPOSE: This article describes the implementation by undergraduate nursing students of a 6-week interdisciplinary Fall Prevention Care Management (FPCM) intervention to improve the safety of older adults living in assisted living facilities. METHODS: A secondary qualitative descriptive analysis of narrative visit notes was conducted using the Meyer et al taxonomy to characterize fall prevention interventions with older adults. RESULTS: Individualized fall prevention interventions including motivational interviewing and care management supported clients' engagement with fall prevention by facilitating behavior change related to fall prevention, helping clients identify and reflect on meaning and/or perceptions related to fall prevention. CONCLUSION: The FPCM project was acceptable, facilitated high fall risk older adults' engagement with fall prevention, and yielded many positive outcomes.

Feasibility study of student-led fall prevention care management: Reducing fall risks in assisted living facilities.

Falls are common in Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs). We evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact of student-led Fall Prevention Care Management (FPCM) on reducing fall risks in ALFs. Residents who were age ≥65, had a fall in the previous year Or considered high fall risk at the facility, and who had a MoCA cognition score>15 were enrolled. The FPCM interventions were semi-structured to facilitate students' learning while addressing participants' unique fall risks. Twenty-five older adults in the U.S. completed the study (recruitment rate: 55%; retention rate: 64%). Participants rated the study as 87.16 (100 = excellent), and likelihood to recommend the study to others was 80.85 (100 = most likely). Participants were 84% female, mean age 88.6 years old. Fall risks such as fear of falling decreased from 16.05 to 15.12 (p = .022), fall prevention behaviors increased from 2.94 to 3.07 (p = .048), and the level of confidence to prevent falls increased from 63.38 to 78.35 (p = .015). Students commonly provided education and coaching on fall prevention strategies, and addressed emotional and behavioral aspects of fall prevention. With improvement with recruitment and retention, student-led FPCM intervention is a promising approach for fall prevention in ALF.