Information for Researchers and Educators

Medical Management

Tools You Can Use

• Guideline for the Prevention of Falls in Older Persons: Detailed article about the risk factors for falling and recommended interventions. (PDF)
• Prevention of Falls in the Elderly Population: Facts about falls in elderly Canadians as well as detailed preventative measures for persons in various physical stages. (PDF)

Websites

• Administration on Aging AoA Evidence Based Prevention Program Site: The goal of this site is to disseminate lessons learned from its pilot study and offer materials and technical assistance for aging services network agencies wishing to adopt the Medication Management Model into their own setting.
• National Resource Center for Safe Aging: This website contains a wealth of falls-related information for public health professionals, with links to many other useful sites.
• Preventing Medication Errors: the Home Health Medication Model: This is a technical assistance site for home care agencies wishing to adopt this innovative Model to their own setting.

Articles

• Building A Culture of Safety: An article from the VAnguard newsletter about the VA Tampa patient safety center. The article includes many helpful tips for caregivers as well as information about Tai Chi.
• A Best Practices Guide for the Prevention of Falls Among Seniors Living in the Community: Results of study to review fall prevention programs and practices resulting in evidence for effective approaches for reducing injury among seniors, as well as efficient means of delivering prevention programs.
• Abstracts and Articles: A list of articles about fall prevention.
• Epidemiology of Falling: List of links about risk factors for falling, documentation of falls in nursing homes and more.
• Falls In The Elderly: Analysis on determining and treating the underlying cause of falls.
• Preventing Falls in Older Californians: State of the Art (Preconference White Paper): White paper outlining the significance of injurious falls to older persons, best practices to reduce fall risk, screening for fall risk and descriptions of appropriate interventions tailored to individual needs. (PDF)
• Research Papers on Falls Prevention: List of links to many research papers about fall prevention.
• Research Review Papers: Review includes risk factors and prevention strategies, role of exercise in reducing falls, role of medication modification in fall prevention and the role of environment at home and the community in fall prevention. (PDF)

Other

• Gerontological Society of America: Online search for topics related to fall prevention.

Bibliography

Assessing the Environment for Fall Prevention. These power point slides were presented at the Archstone Foundation California Fall Prevention Consortium at the ASA/NCOA Annual Conference in San Francisco on April 15, 2004 by Dory Sabata, OTD, OTR/L and Jon Pynoos, PhD of the USC Andrus Gerontology Center National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification. (PDF)

Q & A With Jon Pynoos, PhD. Rehab Management International: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Rehabilitation interviews Jon Pynoos PhD, Director of National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification located in University of Southern California's Andrus Gerontology Center. He discusses the latest update in the realm of home modification and specifically about fall prevention, reported by Sarah Schmelling, April 2004.

Arnadottir SA, Mercer VS. Effects of footwear on measurements of balance and gait in women between the ages of 65 and 93 years. Physical Therapy 2000;80:17-27.

Capezuti E et al. Side rail use and bed-related fall outcomes among nursing home residents. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2002;50(1):90-96.

Capezuti E, Evans L, Strumpf N et al. Physical restraint use and falls in nursing home residents. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 1996;44( ):627-33.

Capezuti E, Strumpf NE, Evans LK et al. The relationship between physical restraint removal and falls and injuries among nursing home residents. Journal of Gerontology:Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 1998;53A:M47-M52.

Cumming RG, Thomas M, Szonyi G et al. Home visits by an occupational therapist for assessment and modification of environmental hazards: a randomized trial of falls prevention. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 1999;47:1397-1402.

Dean E and Ross J. Relationships among cane fitting, function, and falls. Physical Therapy 1993;73:494-504.

Falls and Fall-Related Injuries. This is a list of articles pertaining to the topic of falls in this issue of Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, Winter 2002-03.

Ekman A, Mallmin H. External hip protectors to prevent osteoporotic hip fractures. Lancet 1997;350(9077):563-564.

Evans LK, Stumpf NE, Allen-Taylor SL et al. A clinical trial to reduce restraints in nursing homes. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 1997;45:675-81.

Gill TM, Robison JT, Williams CS, et al. Mismatches between the home environment and physical capabilities among community-dwelling older persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;17:88-92.

Hornbrook MC, Stevens VJ, Wingfield DJ et al. Preventing falls among community-dwelling older persons: results from a randomized trial. Gerontologist 1994;34:16-23

Jensen J, Lundin-Olsson L, Nyberg L et al. Fall and injury prevention in older people living in residential care facilities. Annals of Internal Medicine 2002;136(10):733-41.

Kannus P, Parkkari J, Niemi S, Pasanen M, Palvanen M, Jarvinen M. Prevention of hip fracture in elderly people with use of a hip protector. New England Journal of Medicine 2000;343(21):1506-1513.

Kiely DK, Kiel DP, Burrows AB et al. Identifying nursing home residents at risk for falling. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 1998;46(5):551-55.

Lauritzen JB, Petersen MM. Effect of external hip protectors on hip fractures. Lancet 1993;341(8836):11-13.

Lord SR, Bashford GM. Shoe characteristics and balance in older women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 1996;44:429-433.

McMurdo ME, Millar AM, Daly F. A randomized controlled trial of fall prevention strategies in old peoples' homes. Gerontology 2000;46:83-87.

Oliver D, Hopper A, See P. Do hospital fall prevention programs work? A systematic review. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2000;48:1679-1689.

Overton, J. and Pynoos, J. A Key to Independence: Injury-proofing elder’s homes. Aging Today, November/December, 1999.

Pynoos, J. (The state of home modification) Q & A with Jon Pynoos. REHAB Management: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Rehabilitation, April 2004

Pynoos, J., Cohen E., and Lucas, C. Environmental coping strategies for Alzheimer's caregivers, American Journal of Alzheimer's Care and Related Disorders & Research, 1989; 4 (6), 4-8.

Pynoos, J. & Sabata, D. The Role of Home Modification in Fall Prevention. Conference Proceedings from the conference “Creating a California Blueprint for Fall Prevention: Proceedings of a Statewide Conference.” The Archstone Foundation, October 2004. (PDF)

Pynoos, J., Sabata, D. & Choi, I. The Role of the Environment in Fall Prevention at Home and in the Community. A White Paper prepared for the National Council on the Aging, “Falls Free Summit,” December 2004.(PDF)

Robbins S, Waked E, Allard P et al. Foot position awareness in younger and older men: the influence of footwear sole properties. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 1997;45:61-66.

Rubenstein LZ. The importance of including the home environment in assessment of frail older persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;47:111-112.

Sabata, D. & Pynoos, J. Assessing the environment for fall prevention. Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on the Aging, April 2004. (PDF)

Stevens VJ, Hornbrook MC, Wingfield DJ et al. Design and implementation of a falls prevention intervention for community-dwelling older persons. Behavior and Health in Aging 1992;2:57-73.

Stratmann D et al. The effects of research on clinical practice: The use of restraints. Applied Nursing Research 1997;10(1):39-43.

Tennstedt, S. Editor. Falls and fall-related injuries. Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, Winter 2002-03.

Tinetti ME et al. Mechanical restraint use and fall related injuries among patients of skilled nursing facilities. Annals of Internal Medicine 1992;116(5):369-74.

Tinetti ME, Baker DI, McAvay G, et al. A multifactorial intervention to reduce the risk of falling among elderly. N Engl J Med 1994;331(13):821-827.

Wagner EH, LaCroix AZ, Grothaus L, et al. Preventing disability and falls in older adults: A population-based randomized trial. Am J Pub Health 1994;84:1800-1806.