Assessment of community fall prevention toolkit

Abstract

Falls are the leading cause of injury death among adults age 65 years and older. There are many fall prevention programs to help reduce fall risk factors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a locally developed toolkit, Falling Less in Kansas, which was designed to educate older adults on fall prevention strategies. Four focus group sessions, recruited from 2 urban organizations and 2 rural health clinics, were conducted. Although the participants felt the toolkit was attractive, well organized, and easy to use, they thought it may contain too much information. Interestingly, the majority of participants admitted they would not actively use the toolkit on their own, but would need it introduced to them by their care provider (primary care provider or pharmacist) or in a social setting.