Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary T. Verklan

Abstract

The lack of education related to causes of, complications from, and interventions for falls is associated with the high rate of falls and fall-related injuries in older adults (OAs) beginning at age 65. The purpose of this project was to develop a fall prevention program that included components of the Stopping Elderly Accidents Deaths & Injuries Algorithm to increase fall prevention awareness and reduce falls in OAs at one community senior center. The project practice question asked whether introducing a fall prevention program that focused on exercise and home safety checks to educate OAs could decrease the rate of falls. The development of the fall prevention program was guided by the Roy Adaptation Model and The Health Belief Model. The sources of evidence were acquired from the Walden University databases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. The education workshop was held for 1-hour. The pretest and posttest design utilized the Fall Risk Self-Assessment 12-Item Questionnaire results for de-identified data collection from 30 OAs. The project results, analyzed using descriptive statistics, found that there were only 2 occurrences in the month following the fall prevention program, a decrease from 15 for the year before the program. Results showed that a fall prevention program focused on exercise and a home safety check demonstrated a trend in decreasing the rate of falls. Continuing to monitor the fall rate over the next year will determine the long-term effectiveness of the educational program. The social change implications are for community senior centers to provide an evidence-based fall prevention program that decreases the rate of falls in OAs to enhance their quality of life.

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