title: A fall prevention program for the home environment.
abstract: Falls are the leading cause of injury, death, and disability among people older than 65. When elders fall, they sustain such injuries as hip, spine, hand, and/or pelvic fractures. The prognosis after such a fall is poor--only half of older adults hospitalized for hip fractures are able to return home or live independently again. Even without injury, falls cause a loss of confidence that results in reduced physical activity, increased dependency, and social withdrawal. As a home care agency dealing with a geriatric population, our goal was to develop a user-friendly fall prevention program that would promote multidisciplinary assessment and intervention. We have developed a preventive approach through which clinicians and patients can collaborate on preventing falls in the home and maintaining our patients' first priority: quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Jewish Home and Hospital Home Health Care Program, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riddoch-Kennedy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Radensky
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zarrow
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009519:New York City; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012046:Rehabilitation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012308:Risk Management / Q000458:organization & administration*