An educational video to promote multi-factorial approaches for fall and injury prevention in long-term care facilities.

Aleksandra Zecevic,Ryan Woolrych,Andrew Sixsmith,Samantha M Gray,Heather McKay,Fabio Feldman,Laura B Dilley,Vicky Scott,Joanie Sims-Gould,Bobbi Symes,Gina Gaspard,Steve Robinovitch

doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-102

Abstract

BackgroundOlder adults living in long term care (LTC) settings are vulnerable to fall-related injuries. There is a need to develop and implement evidence-based approaches to address fall injury prevention in LTC. Knowledge translation (KT) interventions to support the uptake of evidence-based approaches to fall injury prevention in LTC need to be responsive to the learning needs of LTC staff and use mediums, such as videos, that are accessible and easy-to-use. This article describes the development of two unique educational videos to promote fall injury prevention in long-term care (LTC) settings. These videos are unique from other fall prevention videos in that they include video footage of real life falls captured in the LTC setting.MethodsTwo educational videos were developed (2012–2013) to support the uptake of findings from a study exploring the causes of falls based on video footage captured in LTC facilities. The videos were developed by: (1) conducting learning needs assessment in LTC settings via six focus groups (2) liaising with LTC settings to identify learning priorities through unstructured conversations; and (3) aligning the content with principles of adult learning theory.ResultsThe videos included footage of falls, interviews with older adults and fall injury prevention experts. The videos present evidence-based fall injury prevention recommendations aligned to the needs of LTC staff and: (1) highlight recommendations deemed by LTC staff as most urgent (learner-centered learning); (2) highlight negative impacts of falls on older adults (encourage meaning-making); and, (3) prompt LTC staff to reflect on fall injury prevention practices (encourage critical reflection).ConclusionsEducational videos are an important tool available to researchers seeking to translate evidence-based recommendations into LTC settings. Additional research is needed to determine their impact on practice.

Highlights

Older adults living in long term care (LTC) settings are vulnerable to fall-related injuries
Older adults who live in long term care (LTC) facilities are highly vulnerable to falls and fall-related injuries [1,2]
Development process: from pre-production to dissemination In 2012, the SKIPS team embarked on a one-year project to develop two educational videos, “Everybody Falls Sometime: An Introduction to the Prevention of Falls and Injuries in Long-Term Care” and “Evidence from Real-Life Falls: How to Manage Risk and Prevent Injuries in Long-Term Care”, to support the implementation of evidence-based fall and fall related injury prevention training in LTC settings

Summary

Introduction

Older adults living in long term care (LTC) settings are vulnerable to fall-related injuries. This article describes the development of two unique educational videos to promote fall injury prevention in long-term care (LTC) settings. These videos are unique from other fall prevention videos in that they include video footage of real life falls captured in the LTC setting. Older adults who live in long term care (LTC) facilities are highly vulnerable to falls and fall-related injuries [1,2]. Cameras recorded resident activities and any adverse events, such as falls This footage provided unique evidence of the causes and mechanisms of falls within older adults’ everyday context [1]. Incorrect weight shifting (i.e., shifting of the body's center-of-gravity outside the base of support provided by the feet) was identified as the most common cause of falls, and these most commonly occurred when individuals were walking, sitting down, or standing [1]

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