Article Text

Download PDFPDF
218 Fall prevention indicators for use in public health practice
  1. Alexia Medeiros1,
  2. Sarah Richmond2,
  3. Alison Macpherson1,3,
  4. Ian Pike4,5
  1. 1York University, Toronto, Canada
  2. 2University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  3. 3Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada
  4. 4BC Injury Prevention Research Unit, Vancouver, Canada
  5. 5Department of Pediatrics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Abstract

Background In Canada, falls represents the leading cause of injury deaths. In 2018, falls exacted a higher total cost than any other cause at $10.3 billion. The populations most impacted by falls in Canada are children and older adults. Stakeholders in a multi-sectoral injury prevention collaborative in Ontario, Canada expressed the need for indicators that better inform their work and reflect a system-level approach to reporting for both child and older adult fall prevention. We sought to develop a prioritized list of indicators and create resources to respond to this request.

Methods An environmental scan, including a Modified Delphi process, was conducted to develop a set of indicators that would prompt action at a system-level. This included a scientific and grey literature review, and consultation with stakeholders and experts. Data collection included indicators currently in use as well as novel indicators recommended for use in both fall prevention program development and evaluation.

Results Consensus was achieved on a list of indicators prioritized to prompt action and decision-making for both child and older adult fall prevention. Indicators were grouped into two categories: outcome indicators and policy indicators.

Conclusion The environmental scan and Modified Delphi process was successful in establishing a set of indicators that can be used systematically by practitioners for both child and older adult fall prevention programming and evaluation.

Learning Outcomes Use of these indicators can reduce the duplication of reporting efforts across sectors and increase opportunities to compare data across settings. Further research will evaluate the use of the indicators in public health practice.

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.