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Preventing Falls After Discharge

CPDTime.
12m of CPD
It is estimated that about 40% of older adults fall within six months of discharge, with 50% of these incidents resulting in injury. Despite these alarming statistics, most falls are preventable. In order to prevent post-discharge falls and avoid hospital re-admission for falls injuries, it is important for healthcare staff to provide appropriate education to patients and implement falls-prevention strategies as part of discharge planning.

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What is this article about?

Falls in older adults are often serious, resulting in functional decline, reduced quality of life, loss of independence, and in severe cases, even death. While about 77% of injury-related hospitalisations among older adults (over 65) are caused by falls (AIHW 2022), hospitalisation is also a major falls risk factor in itself. Falls are among the most common clinical incidents, with the risks only increasing the longer the patient remains in acute care - sometimes even for patients who were not initially at risk of falling.

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  • 3 Assessment Questions

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  • CPDTime.
    12m of CPD

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Ausmed
Editorial Team
Ausmed’s editorial team is committed to providing high-quality, well-researched and reputable education to our users, free of any commercial bias or conflict of interest. All education produced by Ausmed is developed in consultation with healthcare professionals and undergoes a rigorous review process to ensure the relevancy of all healthcare information and updates to changes in practice. If you have identified an issue with the education offered by Ausmed or wish to submit feedback to Ausmed's editorial team, please email ausmed@ausmed.com.au with your concerns.
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What do others think?

379 reviews by Ausmed Learners
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HA
Helen Atkins
08 Nov 2022
Registered Nurse
Very informative. Reinforced knowledge and provided new knowledge. Will assist in providing discharge advice.
MA
Mardi Ascione
05 Sep 2023
Registered Nurse
Good information on falls risk and prevention.
DC
Debra Curran
03 Mar 2021
Excellent article on falls risks after hospital discharge.
DF
Dominique Fowler
19 Aug 2020
Falls are always at the forefront of an aged care nurse!
SH
Samantha Huang
31 Aug 2023
Registered Nurse
i
Portrait of Jacqui Simao
Jacqui Simao
21 Aug 2020
48% clients discharging home experience a fall within 6 months. Falls awareness and prevention is directly relevant to acute care and community care providers alike.
LC
Laxmi C
19 Oct 2021
This resource is very informative for the aged care worker and elderly peoples living at home. This resource provides the appropriate education to the elderly people how to implement the falls prevention strategies.
GS
Gavin Symes
16 Dec 2020
Helpful insight into the various factors that may increase falls risk and ways to address those factors
TM
Tatiana MANZI
16 Aug 2023
Great information
SM
Suzanne McLachlan
26 Aug 2020
Resourceful, clear concise and very relevant.
4.5 / 5
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