An evaluation of the falls prevention practice of community-based allied health professionals working in primary care

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to explore allied health professional’s (AHP) current practice and understanding of falls prevention and to investigate self-reported change following a professional development workshop. Methods: Four professional development workshops were designed targeting exercise, home safety interventions, the LiFE program and medication reviews. Self-reported surveys were collected pre, post and at three-month follow-up. Results: Seven workshops were run in Northern Sydney with 161 participants. AHP identified practice barriers were regularly assessing falls risk and collaborating with other service providers. At three months, change in practice was reported by participants in the exercise (88.1%), home safety (48%), LiFE (78.6%), and medication review (62.5%) workshops. Discussion: These findings provide good support for the effectiveness of professional development workshops in knowledge translation for medication review and exercise based interventions. Further studies and initiatives into promoting screening for falls risk and greater collaboration between community service providers is recommended.