title: Falls risk assessment begins with hello: lessons learned from the use of one home health agency's fall risk tool.
abstract: Identifying older adults at risk for falls is a challenge all home healthcare agencies (HHAs) face. The process of assessing for falls risk begins with the initial home visit. One HHA affiliated with an academic medical center describes its experience in development and use of a Falls Risk Assessment (FRA) tool over a 10-year period. The FRA tool has been modified since initial development to clarify elements of the tool based on research and to reflect changes in the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) document. The primary purpose of this article is to share a validated falls risk assessment tool to facilitate identification of fall-related risk factors in the homebound population. A secondary purpose is to share lessons learned by the HHA during the 10 years using the FRA.
authors.affiliation: Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 37212, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Flemming
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ramsay
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005684:Gait; D018575:Home Care Services, Hospital-Based; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States