Falls Prevention Health Network

Stay On Your Feet® – international impact

The Stay On Your Feet® program was developed in Western Australia over 10 years ago. Since that time the program has grown considerably with over 70 community events being held in 2009 as part of Stay On Your Feet® Week (13 – 20 September).

In that time, the program has also attracted considerable interest from across Australia and overseas. WA Health owns the trade mark for the program and has shared the SOYF® resources nationally and internationally. The following international organisations have user approval:

• Community Care Services, Wokingham, UK
• Shalom Village, Ontario, Canada
• Alberta Centre for Injury Control & Research, Alberta, Canada
• Conemaugh Health System, Pennsylvania
• Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Manatoba, Canada
• Five Hills Health Region, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Further information about the Stay On Your Feet® resources can be viewed at http://www.health.wa.gov.au/stayonyourfeet/home/

Stay On Your Feet WA® Acute Resources

The Injury Control Council of Western Australia, in conjunction with the Department of Health WA, has developed a suite of falls prevention resources for use in the acute care sector throughout Western Australia. These resources provide information to patients, family members, and ward staff on what steps they can take to help reduce falls in hospital and once they arrive home. These resources can be ordered from the Department of Health Online Publication Order System at http://www.dohpackcentre.com.au/DOH/

For more information on any of these resources, please contact Stay On Your Feet WA® Resource Centre on (08) 9420 7212.

Falls Prevention – WA inputs to national agenda

Dr Nick Waldron, who leads the Falls Prevention Health Network, and Karina Moore, of the Health Networks Branch, recently attended the National Injury Prevention Working Group meeting in Melbourne.

The Group reported on progress against the objectives of the National Falls Prevention for Older People Plan: 2004 Onwards report. This group is now moving into phase two for implementation of the key priority areas to support the goals provided within this report. Activities include:

• Assisting to update the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care, Falls Prevention Best Practice Guidelines and,
• Addressing the issue of Vitamin D and calcium supplementation, particularly for people in residential care. There is currently mixed evidence regarding the role of vitamin D in the prevention of falls and further research is ongoing internationally. This issue has been looked at in Western Australia and Dr Hannah Seymour, former Clinical Lead of the Falls Network and Geriatrician at Royal Perth Hospital, had done a great deal of work in this area.

Falls Linkage Independence Program – interim results

The Falls Linkage Independence Program (FLIP) is an Australian Better Health Initiative funded project providing a community based service for older people who are at risk of falling in defined postcodes from Midland to Perth CBD. It aims to reduce gaps in existing services and improve communication and facilitate linkages with key stakeholders across the continuum of care.

FLIP has been in place in the identified post code areas for 10 months and will be evaluated before the end of the project in June 2010.

Interim results show over 95% of targeted referrals are being received. However, there have been lower than targeted numbers of referrals from GPs, despite significant efforts from the project team. These findings are feeding into the continuous improvement of the program.

Implementation the Falls Prevention Model of Care

The Network is keen to hear about activities which are implementing elements of the Falls Prevention Model of Care. If you're working on Falls Prevention in Western Australia, please complete this form to share your work. The information we receive will inform health services planning across WA and may be featured on a website in future.

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