Category Archives: News

ANZFPS EMCR Webinar Series: Are we doing enough to promote independence?

How do older people rise from the floor independently?

Presented by the ANZFPS Early-Mid Career Researcher Sub-Committee

Presenters: Associate Professor Elissa Burton
HELD: Thursday 16th, May, 2024  Time: 12pm – 1pm AEST
Where: Zoom webinar

Associate Professor Elissa Burton provided an overview of her systematic review on whether interventions are effective in improving the ability of older adults to get up off the floor independently and the two main methods used. Elissa outlined her kinematic research that identified three main methods, with different methods used across three stages (i.e., initiation, weight transfer, transition to stand) that older adults use to get up from the floor. Finally, Elissa outlined practical considerations of therapeutic/exercise interventions targeting capacity to independently get up from the floor.

Elissa is an Accredited Sport Scientist (Level 2) and an Associate Professor at Curtin University in Western Australia. Elissa’s research focuses on helping older adults to live independently at home for as long as they choose, through healthy living strategies. Much of Elissa’s work has been with older adults who receive home care services, reablement or restorative care, promoting physical activity, preventing falls and getting off the ground, and encouraging healthy older adults to participate more in strength and balance training. She is a current NHMRC Investigator Grant holder and a Fellow of the Australasian Association of Gerontology (AAG).

Save the date! 11th Biennial Conference: 23-25 November, 2025, Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney, NSW

“Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge” by DRX is licensed under CC BY 4.0

The Australia & New Zealand Fall Prevention Society are pleased to announce that the 11th Biennial Australia & New Zealand Fall Prevention Society Conference will be held at the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel, Sydney, NSW on the 23rd to 25th of November 2025.

We look forward to another memorable conference filled with high quality talks on fall prevention.

Australian Falls Guideline Recommendations and Good Practice Points – Now Available for Consultation

Dear ANZ Falls Prevention Society Members,

We are pleased to announce that the draft Recommendations and Good Practice Points from the Australian Fall Prevention Guidelines, prepared for the Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in Health Care, are now available for consultation here.

Please send any feedback you may have to this email: anzfallsprevention@neura.edu.au by the 25th February 2024 c.o.b.

An interview with Dr Sue Dyer: Invited Speaker 2023 Joint Conference of the ANZ Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress

In the lead up to the 2023 Joint Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress, we chat with Dr Sue Dyer, one of the invited speakers. Sue is a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University. She has worked as a researcher in both the public and private sector, with expertise in evidence-based medicine methodologies including health technology assessment, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and guideline development, particularly within the fields of geriatrics and diagnostic technologies.

Sue will be presenting on falls prevention in residential aged care: updated meta-analyses with novel analyses for complex interventions

An interview with Dr Hannah Seymour: Keynote Speaker 2023 Joint Conference of the ANZ Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress

In the lead up to the 2023 Joint Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress, we chat with Dr Hannah Seymour, one of the invited speakers. Hannah is the Medical Lead of the Electronic Medical Record Program Team, as well as a Consultant Geriatrician at the Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group. Hannah has worked in Acute Orthogeriatrics at Fiona Stanley Hospital since 2015 where she shares the care of older people with orthopaedic surgeons.

Hannah will be presenting at the conference on how technology can help us in caring for older people at risk of falls and fractures.

ANZFPS EMCR Webinar Series: Falls Prevention in Residential Aged Care Settings.

With Presentations from Dr Jennie Hewitt and Rik Dawson.

Presented by the ANZFPS Early-Mid Career Researcher Sub-Committee

Presenters: Dr Jennie Hewitt and Rik Dawson

Dr Jennie Hewitt will discuss the implementation of Sunbeam (successful fall prevention intervention) into RACF. Rik Dawson will discuss his experience delivering fall prevention exercise using telehealth focusing on the user experience. Jennie and Rik will also discuss how AN-ACC has influenced fall prevention activities and provided opportunities for practice change in RACF.

Dr Jennie Hewitt is a physiotherapist, educator, and academic researcher with a passion for delivering best practice. She has been awarded an Australian National Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Commendation for Better Practice for her work on the Sunbeam Aged Care Exercise Program. She attained the Morley Award, for the paper most likely to influence policy and practice, from the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. Her work has been used to advocate for Australian Aged Care Funding Reform, she appeared as an expert witness at the Royal Commission and has worked as Technical Advisor to the Federal Chief Allied Health Officer on the implementation and scaling of the Sunbeam Program in 119 aged care facilities across Australia. In 2022 she won the innovAGEING award with Whiddon for a project that used exercise to address chronic pain and deconditioning and in 2023 she was named as an Ageing Asia Global Trailblazer.

Rik Dawson graduated from Sydney University in 1993. Rik is a titled Gerontological Physiotherapist, Vice President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) and the APA representative on the Aged Care Quality Standard Clinical Working Group. Rik was the owner of Age well Physiotherapy, a practice that employed physiotherapists and occupational therapists in Aged Care across Australia. Rik sold his practice in 2020 and is now enrolled at Sydney University as PhD candidate where he is focusing on telehealth for older people. Rik is a graduate of the AICD and has been a Director of the APA since 2017. Rik was a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Director member on the Physiotherapy Research Foundation where he worked to connect research to policy and practice. Rik currently chairs the Nominations, Remuneration, and Governance Board sub-committee. He has a passion for communication, advocacy, leadership and good governance. Rik believes that linking strategy to member value is key to non-profit organisation’s success.

Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society and World Falls Congress 2023 Joint Conference

The 10th Biennial Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Conference (ANZFP) will for the first time be run as a joint conference with the World Congress on Falls and Postural Stability at the Perth Convention Centre, from the 26-28 November 2023. Up to 400 delegates are expected to attend the conference from throughout Australia, New Zealand and overseas.

Late breaking abstract submissions are now being accepted (submission deadline Friday 15th September). The opportunity exists for a limited number of oral presentations in a session dedicated to new information or important findings not fully available before the general abstract submission deadline. Late-breaking poster submissions will also be considered.

Early bird tickets are still available until Friday the 15th September. For more information visit the website: 10th Biennial ANZFPS Conference 26-28 November 2023

To join our mailing list to be kept up to date with information on the conference, click here

An interview with Dr Sandra Luliano: Keynote Speaker 2023 Joint Conference of the ANZ Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress

In the lead up to the 2023 Joint Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress, we chat with Dr Sandra Luliano, one of the keynote speakers. A Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Sandra recently completed a trial in 60 residential aged care homes. Her randomised controlled trial investigated the effect of of supplementing the daily diet of older residents with additional dairy foods, on falls and fractures. 

An interview with Prof Stephen Lord: Keynote Speaker 2023 Joint Conference of the ANZ Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress 

In the lead up to the 2023 Joint Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress we continue our series of interviews with the keynote speakers to get to know them and their research interests. Today we speak to Professor Stephen Lord. Steve is a Scientia Professor at the University of New South Wales and Senior Principal Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia. His research interest involves the identification of neuropsychological, sensorimotor and balance risk factors for falls and the development and evaluation of fall prevention strategies.
He will be presenting an overview of the updated Australian Fall Prevention Guidelines which will be launched at the conference.

An interview with Prof Anne Tiedemann: Keynote Speaker 2023 Joint Conference of the ANZ Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress 

In the lead up to the 2023 Joint Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society & World Falls Congress, we are launching a series of interviews with some of the keynote speakers to get to know them and their research interests. Today we chat with Prof Anne Tiedemann. A Robinson Fellow at the University of Sydney, Anne recently completed the first trial internationally to evaluate the effect of yoga on falls in people aged 60 years and older. Her research develops and evaluates scalable physical activity-based strategies to promote health and prevent falls in middle to older age.