Development of a fall prevention program for elderly Japanese people

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a fall prevention program adapted to the individual risks of elderly patients in a long-term care facility by increasing the caregiving skills and motivation of the staff members. The fall prevention program was created by synthesizing information based on evidence-based practice and action research methodology was chosen to complete the development of the program. There were 31 participating patients in the intervention ward and 20 patients in the control ward. The Generalized Self-efficacy Scale and the Social Support Scale were used to evaluate fall prevention skills the motivation of the staff members. The fall prevention program helped to reduce injuries from 41.9% to 9.7% among the elderly participants and to increase emotional support and self-efficacy among the staff members. Empowerment was considered to be a driving force. The fall prevention program was shown to be acceptable for use among elderly individuals in a long-term care facility.

Severity of dementia as a risk factor for repeat falls among the institutionalized elderly in Japan

“…This is evident from the fact that, in our previous study, 80% of the falls in nursing homes were unwitnessed by the care staff (Kobayashi & Sugai, 2006). Although further investigation will be needed concerning this point, the specialized support programs for caregiving staff, which are managed by nurse specialists in elderly/dementia care to raise their motivation and recognition of fall prevention, might decrease the number of repeat fallers among this specific population (Kato et al. , 2008).…”

Testing the sensitivity, specificity and feasibility of four falls risk assessment tools in a clinical setting

“…2006, 2008), Italy (Lovallo et al. 2010), Japan (Kato et al. 2008), Slovenia (Jakovljevic 2009) and Sweden (Uden et al.…”

Determinants of participation in a fall assessment and prevention programme among elderly fallers in Hong Kong: prospective cohort study

“…Despite the growing number of clinical studies on the efficacy of fall prevention programmes (Becker et al. 2006, Kato et al. 2008, Kerse et al.…”

“…A large majority of participants of fall prevention programme reported that they had benefited from the programme . Despite the growing number of clinical studies on the efficacy of fall prevention programmes (Becker et al 2006, Kato et al 2008, Kerse et al 2008, success of these interventions depends mainly on older peoples' acceptance of and compliance with the health professionals' recommendations (Whitehead et al 2006, Banez et al 2008, Horne et al 2009).…”