Safe Mobility in Hospitalised Older Adults: A Concept Analysis.
Esther Mourão Nicoli, Frances Valéria Costa E Silva, Rosane Barreto Cardoso and 3 others
PMID 40717404WHAT IT FOUND
Promote hospitalised older adults' active movement while reducing severe fall and immobility harms, rather than preventing every fall.
This concept analysis defines safe mobility; it does not test patient outcomes.
Key findings
01Safe mobility means active movement while preventing harm from falls and immobility, not avoiding every fall.
02Restrictive measures such as all bed rails and telling older adults not to get out of bed can cause further physical and functional decline.
03Most falls do not lead to serious physical harm, so preventing severe injury matters more than preventing all falls.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
No patients or outcomes were tested, so this is a conceptual framework rather than evidence that an intervention works. The authors state the empirical literature directly addressing safe mobility is scarce, so the attributes and indicators may be incomplete. The model case and illustrative cases are fictional, not real patient results. The concept was not empirically validated across different hospital settings or cultures.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by doctoral funding from CAPES.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that safe mobility reduces falls, hospital stays, costs, or mortality. It is a concept analysis with no patient outcomes tested, so it can guide thinking but not establish effectiveness.