The Falls Management Program: A Quality Improvement Initiative for Nursing Facilities
First of all, it must be noted that the program is considered to be extremely important in order to reduce the common causes of falls. The authors of the article highlight the importance of person-centered care and clarify how a wide range of quality improvement tools can help nursing facilities improve.
Keeping in mind that intrinsic and extrinsic common fall risk factors cannot be totally ignored, one can conclude that there are certain ways, which can be followed to reduce risks. The key approaches the program is based on involving long-term management and urgent actions. The Falls Management Program is recognized to be a dynamic initiative, as its educational and quality improvement tools undergo numerous transformations. For instance, the effectiveness of the FMP is determined by a culture of safety. Thus, in order to improve the quality of the program as well as to trace back a variety of changes in management style, advanced policies are to be created. Generally, a culture of safety consists of many elements, which most important are communication, interdisciplinary teamwork, and strong leadership. As far as different levels of risk require different actions, the residents of the FMP are divided into certain categories.
Many basic behavior management skills the program promotes allow bringing the resident comfort. Environmental management is also of particular concern as it “helps control the resident’s behavior and to reduce the effects of other residents’ behaviors” (Taylor et al., 2005, p. 32).
Finally, it should be pointed out that the program not only gives an opportunity to minimize the consequences of falls, and therefore, improve a person’s mode of life, but also to create an individualized care plan.
Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks (ACTION)
Generally, the program ACTION is created to improve the quality of healthcare services people are provided with. In most cases health services research findings are not used in a proper way; sometimes, they are even ignored. For this reason, ACTION’s key purpose is to speed up the process of “development, implementation, diffusion, and uptake of demand-driven and evidence-based products, tools, strategies, and findings” (“Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks,” 2006).
The program involves a wide range of partnerships; so, it operates in all the states of the USA. Turning research tint practice is considered to be one common goal the partnerships promote. As far as health care interventions implementation requires ACTION partnerships to involve a variety of additional health services, it becomes evident that there are also numerous other participants who must take part in the common mission of ACTION. For instance, one is to keep in mind that those, who manage, deliver, produce, use, receive, and fund innovations are recognized to be responsible for investing.
The importance of the program can be also confirmed by the fact that the largest health care systems of the country can improve their effectiveness through ACTION. As a network, the program gives an opportunity to access a number of other healthcare websites.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR) is deeply interested in ACTION, as its projects are in popular demand.
The most well-known partners of ACTION are American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Aurora Health Care, Health Research and Educational Trust, RTI International, Yale New Haven Health Services, University of Iowa Center for Health Policy and Research, the CNA Corporation, etc.
References
Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks. (2006). The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR). Web.
Taylor, A., Parmelee, P., Brown H., & Ouslander, J. (2005). The Falls Management Program: A Quality Improvement Initiative for Nursing Facilities. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR). Web.