Older adults form one of the most vulnerable groups, requiring additional attention from the public health system. This situation stems from a range of chronic conditions, which are likely to develop as a person nears senior age. Instigated by the aforementioned conditions, such as impaired vision or the general lack of agility, the fall risk is a considerable threat to the health of the elderly. Senior residents often require additional support from a person’s relatives, and this fact can be utilized by health service providers. It is proposed that the in-depth education of family members in regards to elderly fall prevention techniques will make a valuable contribution to resolving the issue. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literary data supporting this proposal and outline related practice changes.
The issue of falling among elderly residents has been topical in the healthcare community, serving as an area of intense interest for related research. Accordingly, a range of techniques aiming at mitigating fall risks among older adults has been proposed in recent years. Generally, the contemporary public health views favor a multifactorial approach, which is expected to provide a comprehensive fall prevention framework for communities.
However, most of the current interventions focus on the physical factors contributing to the incidence rate of the issue, such as active exercise or vitamin supplement use (Guirguis-Blake et al., 2018). Johnston et al. (2019) discuss a broader multifactorial approach, which includes a comprehensive Fall Plan of Care. This approach suggests the implementation of the STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries) initiative, which, in turn, showed promising results in outpatient care with a 24% decrease in fall incidence rate (Johnston et al., 2019). These statistics provide evidence confirming the importance of an extended multifactorial approach to elderly fall prevention
Therefore, the current practice requires additional changes, which would correspond to the magnitude of the issue. Family members often play important roles in the lives of older adults, making their engagement instrumental in regards to the issue. The primary proposal comprises family education programs, which would provide patients’ relatives with sufficient information regarding fall risk and complication prevention.
Family members can be taught to organize the internal spaces within their household and monitor the condition of the elderly to identify a possibility of falling (Granbom et al., 2019). If a fall occurs, family members should know how to provide first aid in order to mitigate the consequences. Furthermore, sufficient information will prompt them to communicate with their older relatives and remind them about the necessary precautions. A more profound level of internal community prevention will help the healthcare system maintain its productivity, increasing the impact of its efforts aimed at the well-being of residents.
Overall, the contemporary environment poses significant challenges for the public health system, making it necessary to ensure higher levels of community engagement. Medical professionals are physically unable to monitor each older adult within their communities, which is why family assistance will be a valuable contribution to solving the issue. The successful implementation of programs, such as STEADI, provides sufficient evidence in support of such initiatives.
This multifactorial approach implies a deeper level of cooperation between medical professionals and community members, and it should be a common practice nationwide. The former can ensure proper screenings and clinical evaluations while educating the latter the effective fall prevention techniques in everyday settings. This way, the cooperation between the public health system and communities will reach optimal levels, contributing to the significant improvements in the context of the discussed issue.
References
Granbom, M., Clemson, L., Roberts, L., Hladek, M. D., Okoye, S. M., Liu, M., Felix, C., Roth, D. L., Gitlin, L. N., & Szanton, S. (2019). Preventing falls among older fallers: Study protocol for a two-phase pilot study of the multicomponent LIVE life program. Trials, 20(1). Web.
Guirguis-Blake, J. M., Michael, Y. L., Perdue, L. A., Coppola, E. L., & Beil, T. L. (2018). Interventions to prevent falls in older adults. JAMA, 319(16), 1705-1716. Web.
Johnston, Y. A., Bergen, G., Bauer, M., Parker, E. M., Wentworth, L., McFadden, M., & Garnett, M. (2019). Implementation of the stopping elderly accidents, deaths, and injuries initiative in primary care: an outcome evaluation. The Gerontologist, 59(6), 1182-1191.