Preventing falls after hospital
Improving elderly patients’ safety after sending them home from hospital is a “matter of urgency”, according to University of Notre Dame Australia senior lecturer, Dr Anne-Marie Hill. She recently received a $25,000 Menzies Foundation Allied Health Sciences Grant to help further her research into falls prevention.
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Improving elderly patients’ safety after sending them home from hospital is a “matter of urgency”, according to University of Notre Dame Australia senior lecturer, Dr Anne-Marie Hill.
Dr Hill recently received a $25,000 Menzies Foundation Allied Health Sciences Grant to help further her research into falls prevention.
“Falls are a significant problem with serious consequences when we are discharging people so early now from hospitals,” Dr Hill tells Science Network Western Australia.
Dr Hill’s study of 343 patients uncovers the chance of someone having a fall and injuries related to falls is significantly increased within the first six months after a hospital discharge.
Dr Hill says this may contribute to older patients having low levels of exercise after discharge, despite health teams encouraging increased fitness.
“I also found patients have low levels of knowledge about preventing falls when they go home from hospital,” she adds.
Although effective treatment for reducing falls do exist, researchers claim many older people are not aware of them as “they do not view falls in the same way as health professionals”.
As a result of Dr Hill’s research, hospitals have already started to include in-patient falls prevention education in some settings, with many health professionals suggesting education programs should be provided to every older person.
