Older People's Descriptions of Their Engagement in Fall Prevention.
Hiroko Kiyoshi-Teo, Siobhan K McMahon, Kathlynn Northup-Snyder and 1 others
PMID 37950361WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults combined guideline fall-prevention advice with walking, canes, and being careful.
Their choices depended on identity, access, and motivation. Ask what being careful means and tailor conversations rather than assuming people will follow guideline advice.
Key findings
01Participants used personal combinations of fall-prevention strategies, including guideline-endorsed actions and non-guideline actions such as walking, canes, and being careful.
02Their choices were shaped by capability, opportunity, and motivation, including age-related changes, access to classes, and what they saw as part of their identity.
03Participants sometimes knowingly did not follow guideline advice, such as continuing comfortable footwear or using walking and canes instead of structured balance classes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The conversations were motivational interviewing sessions meant to support behavior change, not qualitative research interviews, so the questions may have shaped how participants described their fall prevention. The sample was small and purposive, all participants identified as White, and they were urban-dwelling people choosing an academic medical center, so the findings may not represent older adults in general. Only the first of eight sessions was analyzed, so the study describes early engagement and not later behavior change or fall outcomes. The study did not examine how fall-risk scores related to engagement, and it did not test whether motivational interviewing works. The sessions occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected access to classes and routines, but the study could not separate pandemic effects from other influences.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these descriptions as evidence that motivational interviewing improves fall prevention or reduces falls. The study analyzed only the first of eight sessions and reported no effectiveness outcomes.