Decreasing falls among elderly patients, a proposed evidence based practice project

Background/Introduction: Elderly patients are more at risk for falls and readmission to hospitals and facilities related to falls. In the United States, 20-30% of elderly patients who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as bruising, hip fractures, or head trauma. Nearly, 3 million older adults are seen in the emergency department due to a fall. This is due to the normal physical and mental changes that develop in relation to aging. Currently, there is only short-term data on possible changes to fall risk preventions. Objective: To obtain long-term data of the stated method and evaluation of implementing multi-disciplinary interventions for falls in elderly populations. Methods: A qualitative and quantitative study that uses data collected from the facilities that show the occurrence of falls as well as interviews and discussion groups with staff members on the new interventions that will be implemented. This study will take place over a six-year period to obtain long-term data as well as be implemented in both rural and urban facilities. Results: The results section will discuss the anticipated changes related to the current annual elderly falls within the specific facilities, as compared to falls after the study has been conducted, with implemented interventions. It would also discuss the staff’s perception of the effectiveness and ease of implementation of the interventions in relation to previous standard interventions. Implications: Multi-year data collection on effectiveness of multi-disciplinary fall risk prevention in the elderly population. This information is beneficial to creating further studies and possibly standardizing a new fall risk prevention for facilities with elderly patients.