OT and Falls Prevention

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Falls are a complex problem. 

This makes preventing them a perfect target for our OT skillset. 

This week we are looking at an article that explores “the state of the science” on preventing falls in hospitalized patients. The authors walk us through:

• The scope of the problem 
• The science (or lack thereof) supporting different interventions

While many of the interventions sound simple (like gripper socks and alarms), the article we review in this 1-hour course reminds us that nothing is simple in creating truly effective fall prevention initiatives. 

To discuss what this research looks like in practice, we are excited to welcome to the podcast Pooja A. Patel, DrOT, OTR/L, CDP, CFPS. In addition to being a certified fall prevention specialist, Pooja served as a fall champion at her hospital, and has a wealth of knowledge and experience about being involved in hospital wide quality initiative.  Whether you are looking to up your game as an individual therapist or as part of a quality team at your facility, this is a great conversation for you!  

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Preventing falls in hospitalized patients

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities and Hospitals
• Interventions to reduce falls in hospitals: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify acute care fall prevention strategies that are lacking in evidence.
• You will be able to recognize acute care fall prevention strategies that have the most research to support them. 

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• Introduction to falls in acute care
• Who pays for these falls?
• What is being done?
• What was the intent of this paper?
• Study designs in fall prevention
• The evidence behind individual fall prevention strategies
• Multifactorial Interventions
• Author Summary
• Takeaways for OT practitioners

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with Pooja Patel) (50 minutes)

• Can you tell me how you found OT?
• How did your interest in fall prevention begin? 
• Tell us about being the Fall and Mobility Champion at Northwestern!
• What were your initial impressions of the article?
• Do you use any fall prevention screens/assessments? And, do you debrief each fall?
• I loved the footwear recommendation. How can we in the hospital system be simulating what the patient is accustomed to at home?  
• Are there new fall prevention technologies you are aware of that weren’t mentioned in the article. 
• I wish the article had touched on staff education and caregiver education. How big of a role do you think these play in fall prevention?
• For OTs who want to learn more about fall prevention, what resources do you recommend?

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and Falls Prevention. The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic. Our guest, Pooja A. Patel, also has no financial disclosures.

Speakers

Pooja A. Patel, DrOT, OTR/L, CDP, CFPS

Dr. Patel is the founder and primary consultant of a private practice targeting family and caregiver education related to senior care. She has been an acute care occupational therapist for 5+ years primarily serving the geriatric population with attention to dementia care, fall prevention, and chronic disease management.

She is also currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at Delaware State University teaching Adult & Geriatric Mental Health & Psychosocial Practice. Dr. Patel formerly served as the National President of Pi Theta Epsilon from November 2017 to April 2022. As PTE President, she also served as a member of the AOTF Board of Trustees. Read full bio.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. For more details read our blog post: Can I earn OT CEUS from a podcast? To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Explained. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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