Wishes and needs of older persons who have experienced a fall: A qualitative study.
Ann Sophia Bertelsen, Jesper Ryg, Tahir Masud and 1 others
PMID 31367436WHAT IT FOUND
Older people after a fall wanted to keep doing meaningful activities, stay independent, and have social contact.
They valued Falls Clinic and physiotherapist contact, while some men denied needing help.
Key findings
01After a fall, participants wanted to keep doing meaningful activities and have social contact and caring from others.
02Physiotherapist training and nurse advice about getting up safely and blood pressure drops were valued by participants.
03Requests for assistive technology and aids came only from female participants, while most men rejected needing help.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only nine older adults completed the interviews, and they were selected from one Falls Clinic in Denmark, so the findings may not apply to other settings. The participants were cognitively well-functioning, living at home, speaking Danish, and had no fractures, so nursing home residents, people with cognitive disability, and more frail fallers were not represented. Eight of the nine participants were recurrent fallers, which may have shaped the accounts. A relative was present in four out of nine interviews, which may have influenced what participants said. This is a qualitative study of wishes and needs, not a test of whether any service, exercise, advice, or aid reduces falls.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Falls Clinic contact, physiotherapist training, or assistive technology prevents falls. This qualitative study reports wishes and experiences, not measured fall outcomes. Do not assume men have no need for help or aids; some men did not express a need, and the study did not test whether they would benefit from services.