title: Protocol for disseminating an evidence-based fall prevention program in community senior centers: evaluation of translatability and public health impact via a single group pre-post study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Falls are the leading cause of injury death in older adults and present a significant public health problem and a major burden to healthcare. Although there is sufficient evidence from randomized controlled trials to indicate that exercise can prevent falls in older people, few effective, evidence-based fall prevention programs exist in community practice. Thus, there is a pressing need to translate and disseminate evidence-based exercise programs to community providers that serve older adults at increased risk of falling. The current study addresses this public health need by disseminating the evidence-based Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance (TJQMBB) program through community senior centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study uses a single-group design in which the TJQMBB program is being delivered to community-dwelling older adults through collaboration with senior centers in selected counties in Oregon, USA, for 48 weeks, followed by a 24-week post-intervention follow-up. Study process and outcome measures will be evaluated in accordance with the components of the RE-AIM framework that focus on Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study will determine whether the evidence-based TJQMBB fall prevention program can be disseminated through a broad spectrum of community-based senior centers that often cater to low-income, underserved community-dwelling older adults at risk of falling. If shown to be both practically implementable and sustainable, the TJQMBB program will provide an effective, potentially low-cost, easy-to-implement intervention that could be used by public health practitioners and community-based organizations to address the problem of falls among older adults.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01854931.
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, 1776 Millrace Dr, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. fuzhongl@ori.org.
authors.forename: Fuzhong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Harmer
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D064407:Senior Centers; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical