NSW Falls Network: Stay up to date with news, information and ideas on falls
The US National Council for Aging Care Fact sheet: Falls – the biggest threat to senior health and safety
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare Best Practice Guidelines for Preventing Falls and Harm From Falls in Older People
Hospitals
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Guidelines | Guidebook | Implementation guide |
Residential aged care facilities
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Guidelines | Guidebook | Implementation guide |
Community care
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Guidelines | Guidebook |
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare Factsheets
Hospitals |
Support staff |
Patients and carers |
Nurses |
Health managers |
Doctors |
Allied Health Professionals |
Residential aged care facilities |
Support staff |
Nurses |
Health managers |
Doctors |
Allied Health Professionals |
Residents |
Community care |
Nurses |
Doctors |
Allied Health Professionals |
Useful links – Australia and New Zealand
Injury Management |
Hip Fracture Care Clinical Care Standard |
Independent Living |
Home Modification Information Clearinghouse – Independent living and community services |
Independent Living Centre NSW – Assistive technology |
Australian and State sites with information about fall prevention | |||
Name | State | Link | Description |
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care | AUS | http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/falls-prevention/ Hospital guidelines: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/publications/preventing-falls-and-harm-from-falls-in-older-people-best-practice-guidelines-for-australian-hospitals-2009/Residential aged care guidelines: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/publications/preventing-falls-and-harm-from-falls-in-older-people-best-practice-guidelines-for-australian-residential-aged-care-facilities-2009/Community care guidelines: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Guidelines-COMM.pdf |
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care assists health services to reduce the number of falls, and the resulting patient harm, through a number of national initiatives.This site includes Australia’s National Guidelines: Preventing Falls and Harm From Falls in Older People: Best Practice Guidelines for Australian Hospitals, Residential Aged Care Facilities and Community Care 2009. The guidelines provide a consistent national basis for falls prevention. |
Australian and NZ Hip fracture registry | AUS | http://anzhfr.org/ Includes a link to the Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (UK): https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/falls-and-fragility-fracture-audit-programme-fffap |
The ANZHFR sets out to achieve a number of goals including:•The development of ANZ Guidelines for hip fracture care•Defining standards of care and measurable quality indicators•Ultimately to develop a ANZ registry to allow for timely comparison of meaningful data which should be used to understand practice and trigger the case for change in places where care might possibly be improved |
Community falls prevention sustainability resource package | http://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/218581/nhmrc_guidelines_and_workbook.pdf | The resources available assist organisations to sustain falls prevention activities beyond any funding periods. The package comprises guidelines and a workbook, a presentation for staff training, a supporting document which summarises the rationale for the guidelines, and a guidance sheet on how to use these materials. | |
Stay On Your Feet WA ® | WA | https://www.stayonyourfeet.com.au | Stay On Your Feet WA® is a community awareness raising program which aims to promote healthy, active ageing in WA to reduce falls and the severity of fall-related injuries among seniors. |
WA Falls Prevention Health Network resources | WA | http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Falls-prevention-education | The WA Falls Prevention Health Network has produced or supported the development of the following resources (see following links):
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e-learning package for fall prevention in hospital settings | WA | http://www.health.wa.gov.au/education/FallsPrevention/player.html | An online learning package outlining the process of assessing a patient’s risk of falls and identifying and applying appropriate prevention strategies in the hospital setting. It takes 30-40minutes to complete. |
Falls Risk Management Tool and Audit Tool | WA | http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Falls-Risk-Assessment-and-Management-Plan | A falls prevention tool used for all inpatients to identify those at risk of falls, assess their risk factors and assign appropriate interventions. An audit tool to monitor its use is also available. |
Post-Fall Management Guidelines in Western Australian Healthcare Settings | WA | http://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/N_R/Post-Fall-Multidisciplinary-Management-Guidelines-and-Tools | A statewide policy to enable a consistent and best-practice approach to post-fall assessment, management and follow-up in WA hospitals, health services and multi-purpose sites (MPS). |
WA Falls Prevention Model of Care | WA | https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/-/media/Files/Corporate/general-documents/Health-Networks/Falls-prevention/Falls-Prevention-Model-of-Care.pdf | An overarching policy document providing a vision and direction for falls prevention activities across WA
Evidence for fall prevention strategies in the community, residential and hospital care settings. |
Stay On Your Feet TAS® | TAS | http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/hospital/stay_on_your_feet | Provides falls information and resources for health professionals and the community |
NSW Falls prevention network | NSW | http://fallsnetwork.neura.edu.au/ | Shares knowledge, expertise, and resources on falls injury prevention. The NSW Falls Prevention Network activities are part of the implementation of the NSW Falls Prevention Policy funded by the NSW Ministry of Health. |
Clinical Excellence Commission, NSW Falls Prevention Program | NSW | http://www.cec.health.nsw.gov.au/keep-patients-safe/Falls-prevention | |
Active and Healthy website | NSW | www.activeandhealthy.nsw.gov.au | |
Vic government of health | VIC | https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/ageing-and-aged-care/wellbeing-and-participation/healthy-ageing/falls-prevention | Resources for health professionals, seniors, families and carers and others with an interest in falls prevention to help reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries. It includes over 90 resources many developed by organisations funded by the Victorian Government Department of Health to implement projects in residential aged care facilities and for people living independently in their own homes. |
Falls prevention SA | SA | http://www.fallssa.com.au/ | The ‘Falls Prevention in SA’ website provides a one-stop-shop of falls prevention and management information for members of the public, health professionals, General Practitioners, and carers. |
Centre of Physical Activity and Ageing | SA | Centre for Physical Activity in Ageing (SA) | The aim of the CPAA is to “Contribute to the quality of life of individuals through the provision of specialised physical rehabilitation, health promotion, scientific research and educational programs”. |
The SA Health Falls Prevention Program | SA | Information for consumers on fall and fall prevention | Provides a large number of falls prevention resources, guidelines and tools |
Queensland Stay On Your Feet | QLD | http://www.health.qld.gov.au/stayonyourfeet/default.asp | |
LiFE Program to prevent falls in older people | WA | https://www.stayonyourfeet.com.au/updates/lifestyle-integrated-functional-exercise-program-instructor-training/ | Introduction to the Lifestyle-integrated Function Exercise (LiFE) Program to prevent falls in older adults |
Other useful resources
Dementia Australia: https://www.dementia.org.au/
Enabling environments: http://www.enablingenvironments.com.au/
Injury Prevention on Australia – The Department of Health: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-injury-index.htm
Osteoporosis Australia: http://www.osteoporosis.org.au/
Council on the Ageing (COTA) – Australia: http://www.cota.org.au/
Home Modifications Clearinghouse: http://www.homemods.info/
Independent Living Centres – Australia: http://ilcaustralia.org.au/
Independent Living Centre NSW: http://www.ilcnsw.asn.au/
Macular Disease Foundation Australia: http://www.mdfoundation.com.au/
Vision Australia: http://www.visionaustralia.org/
Australian physical activity guidelines – The Department of Health: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-act-guidelines
Other International resources Center for Disease Control and Prevention – Older Adult Falls (USA): http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Falls/index.html Preventing Falls: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/community_preventfalls.html Cost of Falls Among Older Adults: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Falls/fallcost.html iStoppFalls Consortium: iStoppFalls involves representatives of world-leading technology and research experts from both university and industry partners in Europe and Australia. The program will strengthen collaboration between research and technology which will provide tailored solutions for the ageing society.: http://www.istoppfalls.eu/cms/front_content.php Falls and Bone Health Community: The online Falls and Bone Health Community is a group of people in Scotland with a common interest in the prevention and management of falls and fragility fractures in older people.: http://www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/fallsandbonehealth.aspx Patient Safety Division, National Health Service England: http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/about-us/ PROFANE – Prevention of Falls Network Earth Community Online – Supporting Falls Prevention Professionals Worldwide: http://profane.co/ Journals SafetyLit: Provides abstracts of reports from researchers who work in the more than 30 professional disciplines relevant to preventing unintentional injuries, violence, and self-harm. http://www.safetylit.org/ Injury Prevention Online: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/ Injury Prevention Web: http://www.injuryprevention.org/ Research Review Australia: http://www.researchreview.com.au/ Key publications Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Catherine Sherrington, Nicola J Fairhall, Geraldine K Wallbank, Anne Tiedemann, Zoe A Michaleff, Kristen Howard, Lindy Clemson, Sally Hopewell and Sarah E Lamb. Cochrane Systematic Review – Intervention. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2 Multifactorial and multiple component interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Sally Hopewell, Olubusola Adedire, Bethan J Copsey, Graham J Boniface, Catherine Sherrington, Lindy Clemson, Jaqueline CT Close, Sarah E Lamb. Cochrane Systematic Review – Intervention. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012221.pub2 Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities and hospitals. Ian D Cameron, Suzanne M Dyer, Claire E Panagoda, Geoffrey R Murray, Keith D Hill, Robert G Cumming, Ngaire Kerse. Cochrane Systematic Review – Intervention. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005465.pub4 |