Interdisciplinary Falls Prevention for Seniors

Falls and fall injuries are common-potentially preventable-causes of mortality, morbidity, functional decline, and increased health-care use and cost among community-living seniors over 75 years of age.

The knowledge gained from this project will directly address the Canadian Patient Safety Institute's priority areas for research in the Applied Health Services Research Stream by evaluating an innovative approach to reducing adverse events in a community-based (home care) setting.

The project will also identify the prevalence, determinants and costs of falls and fall injuries among older people requiring home care services. The design will be a two-armed; single blind randomized controlled trial of 110 older people 75 years and over, at risk for falls receiving hom care in Ontario. Subjects will be randomly allocated to either usual home care (control) or the interdisciplinary team. In the interdisciplinary group, a team of professional home care service providers, with specialized training in falls prevention, will proactively provide a comprehensive, coordinated and evidence based approach to falls prevention. The results will inform policies and practice related to the allocation and delivery of home care services for falls prevention across Canada.

Inclusion criteria

• Must be English speaking
• 75 years of age and over
• Newly referred to and eligible for personal support services
• Living at home in the community
• Identified as being at risk for falls

Exclusion criteria

• Refusal to give informed consent
• Unable to read/write English and a translator is not available