Preventing falls in older people: evaluating a peer education approach.
Initiatives in falls prevention usually rely on the expertise of health professionals and are therefore limited in scope. In order to reach a wider audience, a peer education programme in Bradford gave one-off sessions to groups of older people providing information about falls prevention and demonstrating simple balance and strength building exercises. Although evaluation found the programme to be well received, it also revealed a high rate of undisclosed falls and a reluctance to inform, or seek advice from, health professionals. It was not clear how far this was to do with embarrassment or being seen as not coping, but suggests that a more appropriate role for health professionals may be one that is complementary and supportive within a broad educational and facilitative programme embodying peer education.
Allen
Terry
T
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK. t.allen@bradford.ac.uk
D000056:Accident Prevention; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D017144:Focus Groups; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010379:Peer Group; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires