School of Nursing Poster Presentations
Implementation of a Falls Prevention Plan Among the Community-dwelling Seniors of Ward 8
Document Type
Poster
Keywords
Community Health, Geriatric Health; Falls Prevention; Windshield Survey; Needs Assessment
Publication Date
4-2017
Abstract
With the exponential rise of the aging population due to the number of baby boomers reaching 65 years of age, the United States healthcare system needs to modify socioeconomic structures to meet the growth in healthcare demands. Many older adults want to age in place, which can also reduce the need for long-term institutional care. But this requires increasing community-based resources and support to adequately meet their health needs (Lehning, 2012).
A community needs assessment was conducted to analyze the current unmet resource and support needs of the community-dwelling senior population (≥ 65 years old) to reduce the risk of falls. They cause a significant adverse event among this population with potentially long-term detrimental health outcomes. Data for this project was collected from the Ward 8 neighborhood of the District of Columbia (DC), which has the highest concentration of poverty and the lowest amount of community-based resources available, using windshield and walking surveys, information from the DC Office of Aging Needs Assessments, and an expert interview with Dr. Beverly Lunsford, PhD, RN, CNS-BC, Director of Health and Humanities at the Center for Aging in Washington, DC, Director of the Washington Area Geriatric Education Center Consortium (WAGECC), and Assistant Professor at The George Washington University School of Nursing.
Based on the data collected the major risks for falls among the 65 years and older population residing in Ward 8 was predominantly related to lack of local resources, increased environmental hazards, declining infrastructures, inadequate access to transportation, lack of local government funding, and physical hazards both external and internal to the home. To address these unmet needs, several interventions were proposed including: a) dissemination of informational packets on how to reduce falls among the residents, b) establishing the evidence-based program called Matter of Balance, c) addressing polypharmacy through medication reconciliation, and d) partnering with Safe at Home. The short-term goal of this project is to increase awareness of fall prevention methods and resources available among 40% of the specified population after 1 year of implementation. The long-term goal is to reduce reported falls by 30% after 3 years.
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Open Access
1
Implementation of a Falls Prevention Plan Among the Community-dwelling Seniors of Ward 8
With the exponential rise of the aging population due to the number of baby boomers reaching 65 years of age, the United States healthcare system needs to modify socioeconomic structures to meet the growth in healthcare demands. Many older adults want to age in place, which can also reduce the need for long-term institutional care. But this requires increasing community-based resources and support to adequately meet their health needs (Lehning, 2012).
A community needs assessment was conducted to analyze the current unmet resource and support needs of the community-dwelling senior population (≥ 65 years old) to reduce the risk of falls. They cause a significant adverse event among this population with potentially long-term detrimental health outcomes. Data for this project was collected from the Ward 8 neighborhood of the District of Columbia (DC), which has the highest concentration of poverty and the lowest amount of community-based resources available, using windshield and walking surveys, information from the DC Office of Aging Needs Assessments, and an expert interview with Dr. Beverly Lunsford, PhD, RN, CNS-BC, Director of Health and Humanities at the Center for Aging in Washington, DC, Director of the Washington Area Geriatric Education Center Consortium (WAGECC), and Assistant Professor at The George Washington University School of Nursing.
Based on the data collected the major risks for falls among the 65 years and older population residing in Ward 8 was predominantly related to lack of local resources, increased environmental hazards, declining infrastructures, inadequate access to transportation, lack of local government funding, and physical hazards both external and internal to the home. To address these unmet needs, several interventions were proposed including: a) dissemination of informational packets on how to reduce falls among the residents, b) establishing the evidence-based program called Matter of Balance, c) addressing polypharmacy through medication reconciliation, and d) partnering with Safe at Home. The short-term goal of this project is to increase awareness of fall prevention methods and resources available among 40% of the specified population after 1 year of implementation. The long-term goal is to reduce reported falls by 30% after 3 years.
Comments
To be presented at GW Annual Research Days 2017.