title: Older adults' perceptions of clinical fall prevention programs: a qualitative study.
abstract: Objective. To investigate motivational factors and barriers to participating in fall risk assessment and management programs among diverse, low-income, community-dwelling older adults who had experienced a fall. Methods. Face-to-face interviews with 20 elderly who had accepted and 19 who had not accepted an invitation to an assessment by one of two fall prevention programs. Interviews covered healthy aging, core values, attributions/consequences of the fall, and barriers/benefits of fall prevention strategies and programs. Results. Joiners and nonjoiners of fall prevention programs were similar in their experience of loss associated with aging, core values they expressed, and emotional response to falling. One difference was that those who participated endorsed that they "needed" the program, while those who did not participate expressed a lack of need. Conclusions. Interventions targeted at a high-risk group need to address individual beliefs as well as structural and social factors (transportation issues, social networks) to enhance participation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Calhoun
authors.forename: Hendrika
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meischke
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hammerback
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bohl
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poe
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Phelan