A study evaluating elderly’s perceptions of an inpatient fall prevention programme and their knowledge on falls

Abstract

This research study sought to explore the changes that a fall prevention programme has on elderly’s knowledge on falls when carried out with inpatients who were admitted for rehabilitation following a fall. It also aimed to gain participants’ feedback regarding their experience in participating in the programme. The programme was education-based and consisted of six sessions. Two one-hour sessions were held weekly for a period of three weeks, in which particular attention was paid to fall risk factors and fall prevention strategies. A quantitative method was used with some qualitative elements. It adopted a one-group pretest-posttest design. Participants answered some demographic questions before the start of the programme and a fall prevention knowledge questionnaire, through which participants’ knowledge on falls was measured. This questionnaire was filled in again after the termination of the programme. The participants also gave their feedback on the programme through six open-ended questions which they answered anonymously. Data gathered from the pre-programme and post-programme questionnaires was analysed numerically. This was presented graphically using bar-charts. Content analysis was carried out to analyse participants’ feedback and commonalities between the responses were identified. Results showed that the programme was somewhat effective since all participants showed an increase in their knowledge on falls and fall prevention strategies. Participants stated that participating in this programme was a highly positive learning experience. Such programmes are encouraged to be implemented with elderly people since research shows they are effective in decreasing the number of falls among the elderly population. More research is required regarding the effectiveness of fall prevention programmes to ensure evidence-based practice in this area.