Fellow:          Mark Petrich
                      Senior Physiotherapist
                      WA Country Health Service Midwest & Murchison

Year:              2005

Title:              Evaluation of the implementation of falls risk assessment tools in older people in a regional city

Summary

Falls are a significant cause of injury and death in older people. Many of these falls are caused by multiple, interrelated factors that can be identified by falls risk assessment tools (FRATs). These tools can then guide the responses, actions and referral patterns of the practitioner using the tool.

This study evaluated the process of implementing, documenting and appropriately responding to three different FRATs in three different settings.  The impact of the implementation of the FRATS on the knowledge and attitudes of practitioners to falls risk management was also investigated.

It was found that implementation of FRATs needs to be tailored to specific health care agencies to guide appropriate use.  Two of the three tools had to be modified to allow easy and rapid use. Encouraging, applying these tools increased practitioner knowledge about falls risk factors.

The study suggests that the evaluation of a FRAT implementation may increase uptake, appropriate use, and that small modifications to existing tools may facilitate this process.