The Comparative Effects and Expenses of a Proactive Nurse-Led, Multifactorial and Interdisciplinary Team Approach to Falls Prevention for Older At-Risk Home Care Clients
Overview
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Injuries
- Sponsor
- Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
- Enrollment
- 109
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Number of self-reported falls: Falls surveillance report
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 17 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
With an aging population, an associated increase in the number of falls and fall injuries, there is a need to examine how health care services, such as home care, can best prevent falls among older people. This project will directly address this area by evaluating the effects and expense of an innovative approach to home care service delivery for older people at-risk for falls.
Detailed Description
Falls and fall injuries are common-potentially preventable-causes of mortality, morbidity, functional decline, and increased health-care use and cost among community-living seniors over 75 years of age. The knowledge gained from this project will directly address the Canadian Patient Safety Institute's priority areas for research in the Applied Health Services Research Stream by evaluating an innovative approach to reducing adverse events in a community-based (home care) setting. The project will also identify the prevalence, determinants and costs of falls and fall injuries among older people requiring home care services. The design will be a two-armed; single blind randomized controlled trial of 110 older people 75 years and over, at risk for falls receiving hom care in Ontario. Subjects will be randomly allocated to either usual home care (control) or the interdisciplinary team. In the interdisciplinary group, a team of professional home care service providers, with specialized training in falls prevention, will proactively provide a comprehensive, coordinated and evidence based approach to falls prevention. The results will inform policies and practice related to the allocation and delivery of home care services for falls prevention across Canada.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Must be English speaking
- •75 years of age and over
- •Newly referred to and eligible for personal support services
- •Living at home in the community
- •Identified as being at risk for falls
Exclusion Criteria
- •Refusal to give informed consent
- •Unable to read/write English and a translator is not available
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Number of self-reported falls: Falls surveillance report
Time Frame: 10 minutes
Secondary Outcomes
- Health-Related Quality of Life and Function: SF-36 Health Survey(15-20 minutes)
- Gait and Balance: Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment(10 minutes)
- Depression: Centre for Epidemiological Studies in Depression Scale(5-10 minutes)
- Standardized Mini Mental State Examination(20-25 minutes)
- Confidence in Performing Activities of Daily Living: Modified Falls Efficacy Scale(5-10 minutes)
- Nutritional risk: Screen II Questionnaire(10-15 minutes)
- Cost of Use of Health Services: Health and Social Services Utilization Questionnaire(20 minutes)
- Caregiver burden: Caregiver Strain Index(5-10 minutes)