Fall in the Elderly: Community Teaching Work Plan Proposal

Topic: Teaching Words: 1327 Pages: 4

Planning Before Teaching

Name and Credentials of Teacher:
Estimated Time Teaching Will Last: 4 weeks	Location of Teaching: Classroom no.
Supplies, Material, Equipment Needed: Presentation and fall prevention equipment	Estimated Cost: $3000
Community and Target Aggregate: Older adults susceptible to falls
Topic: Fall in the Elderly

Identification of Focus for Community Teaching

The topic is on the issue of falls among older adults, who can suffer from severe traumas due to deteriorating bone structure and muscle density.

Epidemiological Rationale for Topic

Falls in the elderly are dangerous due to their weak musculoskeletal system, which cannot effectively repair itself. The report suggests that “people aged 65 and older fall each year, and those who fall once are two to three times more likely to fall again” (Stevens & Burns, 2015, p. 9). This is due to severe impairment caused by fall damage, which can result in serious nonfatal injuries or fatal outcomes. Such incidents and their medical treatment cost approximately $34 billion in a year (Stevens & Burns, 2015).

Teaching Plan Criteria

The teaching plan revolves around educating both older adults and their caregivers on the basics of fall prevention.

Nursing Diagnosis

The nursing diagnosis is based on intervention approaches, where the issue is identified as a risk of susceptibility to falling, which can lead to severe physical damage.

Readiness for Learning

The factors that would indicate the readiness to learn are problem awareness, experience, and aging. The former can emerge from the fact that one observed another person to suffer from severe consequences of falling or learned about the subject from other sources. Past experiences refer to an individual personal history of falling, where he or she already fell previously and suffered some form of ramifications. In the case of aging, people approaching the risk age range might be interested in preserving the current quality of life and well-being through active participation intervention measures. In addition, there is an emotional aspect of readiness to learn, which might come from anxiety or worry about the fall damage. This can be experienced by both the older person and caregiver.

Learning Theory to Be Utilized

Sociological theories, such as Status Passage and Preferred Identities, can be utilized in the teaching plan to minimize the effect of fall damage. These theoretical frameworks help equip the target group with the required knowledge and tools that can eliminate the loss of connection to family and emotional well-being (Lukaszyk et al., 2018). The Status Passage provides invaluable insight for the learner regarding the ramifications of falling into old age. It ensures that a paradigm shift occurs within the learning process, which changes the overall perspective on the issue. After the second theory can be deployed to set a new form of identity for older adults, they will stop perceiving themselves in a manner that is detached from reality. The main reason is that some might act as if they were young adults with excellent recovery potential, and some might be overwhelmed by the danger of the issue that they lose interest in beneficial activities, such as walking. Therefore, the teaching plan will alter the identities and status of the target group by providing objective evidence regarding the risks.

Goal

The plan uses the broader Healthy People 2020 goal, which is Injury Prevention. The objective is to reduce fall-related deaths among older adults, and the number is IVP-08 (“Reduce fall-related deaths among older adults — IVP‑08,” 2020). The rationale is based on the fact it directly represents the teaching plan, where both intend to facilitate fall prevention.

How Does This HP2020 Objective Relate to Alma Ata’s Health for All Global Initiatives

The objective is in tune with the Alma Ata Declaration VII, which states: “education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them” (“Declaration of Alma-Ata,” 1978, p. 2). In other words, a person possesses a right to get educated on preventing health problems, including falls among the elderly.

Develop Behavioral Objectives (Including Domains), Content, and Strategies/Methods

Behavioral Objective and Domain	Content	Strategies/Methods
1. Older adults will name the key in-house elements that increase fall chance.	1. Wet floors, slippery shoes, and high stairs are potential risk factors.	1. Interactive presentation will show the images of a wide range of rooms that possess the risk factors.
2. Older adults and their caregivers will select the correct form of physical activity from the list of nine.	2. One should be aware that not all forms of physical exercise are beneficial for the elderly because mostly light cardio is recommended.	2. The instructor will show a variety of exercises to older adults and will explain the appropriateness of each in regards to fall prevention.
3. The target group will choose the correct behavioral pattern shown in three distinct videos.	3. Proper behavioral patterns can ensure that fall risk will be minimized, which can be achieved through actions, such as correct lighting and carpet usage.	3. Three different short videos will be shown, which depict actors who will impersonate older adults. They will exhibit a divergent set of behaviors, where one will be risk-free, and others will contain risky elements.
4. Elderly and their caregivers will be provided fall prevention equipment and asked to demonstrate correct usage.	4. There are several pieces of equipment that prevent falls through assistive measures, but the correct usage is mandatory.	4. The instructor will demonstrate a wide range of fall prevention items, including stable shoes, canes, grab bars, toileting and bathing aids, non-slip socks, and walkers and rollators.

Creativity

How was creativity applied in the teaching methods/strategies?

Creativity plays a central role in the teaching strategy because it is important to understand that some older adults might be more vulnerable to falls compared to others. The presence of such a variety makes it critical to exhibit a certain level of creativity and adjustability of the plan. For example, the demonstration exercise might dismiss a person who is unable to use canes and only needs walkers.

Planned Evaluation of Objectives

The first objective will measure the capability of a person to identify hazards through assessing the number of correct answers.
The second objective will measure the target group’s knowledge of physical activity and their ability to select risk-free exercises. It will be analyzed by counting the number of correct answers within the presentation.
The third objective will measure the collective comprehension of the material, and it will be assessed through correct video identification.
The fourth objective will measure the understanding of fall prevention equipment and the target group’s ability to use it properly.

Planned Evaluation of Goal

The overall effectiveness of the teaching plan needs to be evaluated at the end of the fourth week by conducting a short and comprehensive examination for older adults and their caregivers.

Planned Evaluation of Lesson and Teacher

The evaluation of lessons and a teacher will be conducted by the learners, who anonymously give feedback after each week. They will be able to report whether the tone, visuals, flow, and instructor’s attitude satisfy them.

Barriers

The major potential barrier is the fact that some older adults might possess poor hearing or sight, which will be handled by taking special measures following an individual’s needs. For example, a person with poor hearing will be seated near the speakers, and an older adult with poor eyesight will be positioned in the front rows.

Therapeutic Communication

Communicate therapeutically with patients

The presentation will begin with a comedy entertainment segment in the form of stand-up to capture the interest of the audience. The activity that will induce active listening is an active question used to make the group involved. Active listening is applied in the presentation by introducing questions after each section. The presentation should be concluded by Q&A, which needs to be facilitated by the instructor. Non-verbal communication will be critical to enhance understanding among people with poor hearing, and thus, polite hand gestures will be utilized to indicate that a particular individual is being referred.

References

Declaration of Alma-Ata. (1978). Web.

Lukaszyk, C., Coombes, J., Turner, N. J., Hillmann, E., Keay, L., Tiedemann, A., Sherrington, C., & Ivers, R. (2018). Yarning about fall prevention: Community consultation to discuss falls and appropriate approaches to fall prevention with older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-9. Web.

Stevens, J. A., & Burns, E. (2015). A CDC Compendium of effective fall interventions: What works for community-dwelling older adults. CDC. Web.