Dr Jennie Hewitt1,2, Prof Kathryn Refshauge2, Prof Stephen Goodall3, Prof Lindy Clemson2, Dr Tim Henwood4
1Whiddon, Sydney, Australia, 2The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 3UTS, Sydney, Australia, 4AgeFit Solutions, Adelaide, Australia
Biography:
Dr Hewitt is an academic clinician and educator with a passion for delivering best practice physiotherapy and conducting research to inform health policy. She conducted a trial on the effectiveness of targeted exercise on falls and reablement in long- term aged care and returned game-changing results. Her evidence was used by the Aged Care Royal Commissioners to make recommendations for reablement programs for older Australians. She has shared her passion for working with older people with hundreds of allied health students on clinical placement and works in Whiddon’s Research Hub Team, designing, testing, and scaling new approaches to positive ageing.
Abstract:
Game-changing evidence for preventing falls in residential aged care.
Falls are the leading cause of preventable deaths in residential aged care and occur three times more often in this setting than amongst community dwellers. Approximately 60% of every facility’s residents fall each year, and this figure is rising faster than in any other setting. This presentation will focus on two key allied, and integrated, health care interventions to combat falls.
1. Exercise: Interventions that are effective in a community setting do not return the same outcomes in residential care. Some exercise programs, considered best practice for older adults living at home, have limited and inconsistent results for residents. This presentation will describe the key components of the successful Sunbeam program on falls and physical performance. Other successful exercise trials, in this setting, will also be presented so that participants will have the correct information to confidently prescribe exercise as medicine, ensuring the correct type, dose and frequency, to deliver falls prevention and reablement outcomes for older people, in care, with multiple co-morbidities.
2. Multi-factorial risk assessment and action planning. Most falls can be predicted from a set of known risk factors. We will examine a multifactorial risk factor assessment and management approach called “Live it UP.” Participants will be provided with practical examples of how to implement this approach to prevent falls for the residents they serve.
The authors of the published papers, and presenter, have no conflict of interest to declare.