A new, comprehensive falls prevention intervention developed and studied at the behest of the Department of Health and Human Services between 2008 and 2012 was found to have reduced falls risk by 11% in the first year following the intervention.
 
The intervention, dubbed Living Independently and Falls-free Together (LIFT), also led to an 18% reduction of injurious falls over the first year, according to an article on the study in Health Affairs.
 
Researchers studied three groups of seniors aged 75 and older — more than 5,700 participants in total, and including a control group — enrolled in long-term health insurance plans, the study reports.
 
The LIFT intervention includes a clinical, in-home assessment by a registered nurse (RN) of health, physical functioning, falls history, home environment and medications, the study’s authors say. Action plans, including recommendations for minimizing falls risk and a wellness tool kit, were tailored to the patients and mailed to them. Patients who received the intervention also had results mailed to their primary care physicians for review and follow-up with the patient for more education.
 
Coaching calls by a nurse were made within two weeks of the action plan delivery, and a newsletter providing more coaching and education about falls prevention also was sent to participants on a quarterly basis.
 
The authors also note that in-home visits by RNs who use comprehensive, instead of narrowly defined assessment protocols to develop care plans are likely more effective.
 
About one-third of people 65 and older and up to 75% of those living in institutional settings fall at least once a year, the article noted. Those who experience a fall are also more likely to have higher associated costs for long-term services and supports, as well as acute care costs of roughly $34 billion as of 2013.