MGH Guides: Fall Prevention: Fall Prevention

Fall Prevention

Fall prevention measures can reduce the risk of falls to older adults, in hospitals, and in other workplaces. Here are a collection of resources that can help you to understand fall prevention and how to implement preventative actions.

Overview and Data

Online Resources

Fall prevention: Simple tips to prevent falls
Mayo Clinic resource with tips on how to prevent falls.
Falls in the Elderly Statistics
Provides statistics about falls and the initiatives that the National Council on Aging in order to prevent them.
WHO Falls
World Health Organization information about falls including key facts and the demographics who are most at risk.

Accidental Falls

"In 2010, the overall rate of nonfatal fall injury episodes for which a health-care professional was contacted was 43 per 1,000 population. Rates increased with age for adults aged ≥18 years. Persons aged 18–44 years had the lowest rate of medically consulted falls (26 per 1,000), and persons aged ≥75 years had the highest rate (115)." - CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weeky Report

https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html

Fall Prevention for Older Adults

Online Resources

Fall Prevention Portal at the CDC
Geared specifically towards Older Adults, this portal has a variety of resources for fall prevention programs, and in multiple languages.
National Council on Aging Fall Prevention Portal
Has the latest news on developments in fall prevention, as well as facts and tip sheets on how to prevent falls.
Fall Prevention Center for Excellence
While this entire site is a great resource, this page is specifically for educators and researchers.

Posters

Borrow these posters from the library. All are available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.

Begin a regular exercise program

Have your health care provide
review your medications

Have your vision checked

Make your home safer

Book from the Collection

Falls in Older People by Rein Tideiksaar
Call Number: ELD FALL FALLS
ISBN: 9781932529449
Publication Date: 2010
Presenting evidence-based practice throughout, this easy-to-read manual is a comprehensive guide to preventing and managing falls in hospitals and long-term care settings. This guide explores the internal and external causes of falls, analyzes their consequences, provides clinical assessments for actual falls as well as risks for falling, and promotes an interdisciplinary approach to falls management. Jam-packed with practical strategies, assessment tools, and management practices.

Evidence

Investigating Older Adults' Expressed Needs Regarding Falls Prevention.
The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions regarding falls prevention programs for community-dwelling older adults offered in a specific geographic area.
Characteristics Associated with Improved Physical Performance among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in a Community-Based Falls Prevention Program.
This was a retrospective analysis of quasi-longitudinal data from an ongoing, community-based falls prevention program. The purpose was to identify participant characteristics predicting improvement on physical performance measures associated with falls risk.
Rhythm-Motor Dual Task Intervention for Fall Prevention in Healthy Older Adults
This study aimed to investigate the effects of a rhythm-motor dual task intervention on cognitive and gait control for older adults in relation to fall prevention.

Fall Prevention in Hospitals

Online Resources

Partners Healthcare Fall Prevention Aid
Tips for preventing falls in a clinical setting.
AHRQ Fall Prevention Toolkit
Resources for preventing falls in hospitals from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality.

Evidence

Hospital Fall Prevention: A Systematic Review of Implementation, Components, Adherence, and Effectiveness
A recent (2013) systematic review on hospital fall prevention from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This article is open access.
Best Practices for Falls Reduction: A Practical Guide (Special Supplement to American Nurse Today)
From the official journal of the American nurses Association, a series of articles specifically about fall prevention in hospitals and the role of the nurse.
Hospital falls prevention with patient education: a scoping review
This critical review scopes patient falls education interventions for hospitals. The quality of the educational designs under-pinning patient falls education programmes was also evaluated. The outcomes of patient-centred falls prevention programs were considered for a range of hospital settings and diagnoses.
Fall prevention implementation strategies in use at 60 United States hospitals: a descriptive study.
This descriptive study aims identify and describe the prevalence of specific hospital fall prevention implementation strategies.

Other Types of Fall Prevention

Fall Prevention on Construction Sites

OSHA's Fall Prevention Campaign
This fall prevention portal is geared towards preventing falls at construction sites. It provides visual aids in both English and Spanish.
Prevent Falls in Construction
The CDC has compiled resources for fall prevention on construction sites such as research, programs, and infographics.

Window Fall Prevention

Window Falls Prevention
From the Boston Public Health Commission, here are tips and safety measures to prevent kids falling from windows.
Window Falls Toolkit
This website has resources to spread awareness about window falls, as well as infographics, facts and advice from reputable sources, articles, and videos.

Workplace Fall Prevention

Falls in the Workplace
This CDC website provides fast facts regarding job hazards and what can be done to prevent falls.
Prevention of Slips, Trips and Falls
This website provides easy-to-read information about how falls can happen in the workplace and the best ways to avoid them.