An interprofessional team approach to fall prevention for older home care clients ‘at risk’ of falling: health care providers share their experiences

Pamela Baxter,Maureen Markle-Reid

doi:10.5334/ijic.317

Abstract

Providing care for older home care clients 'at risk' of falling requires the services of many health care providers due to predisposing chronic, complex conditions. One strategy to ensure that quality care is delivered is described in the integrated care literature; interprofessional collaboration. Engaging in an interprofessional team approach to fall prevention for this group of clients seems to make sense. However, whether or not this approach is feasible and realistic is not well described in the literature. As well, little is known about how teams function in the community when an interprofessional approach is engaged in. The barriers and facilitators of such an approach are also not known. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences of five different health care professionals as they participated in an interprofessional team approach to care for the frail older adult living at home and at risk of falling. This study took place in Hamilton, ON, Canada and was part of a randomized controlled trial, the aim of which was to determine the effects and costs of a multifactorial and interdisciplinary team approach to fall prevention for older home care clients 'at risk' of falling. The current study utilized an exploratory descriptive design to answer the following research questions: how do interprofessional teams describe their experiences when involved in a research intervention requiring collaboration for a 9-month period of time? What are the barriers and facilitators to teamwork? Four focus groups were conducted with the care-provider teams (n=9) 6 and 9 months following group formation. This study revealed several themes which included, team capacity, practitioner competencies, perceived outcomes, support and time. Overall, care providers were positive about their experiences and felt that through an interprofessional approach benefits could be experienced by both the provider and the patient and his/her family. Findings from this study suggest that research needs to be conducted to further explore the issues faced by this group of care providers and potential client outcomes.

Highlights

Engaging in interprofessional collaboration is often a challenge for practitioners who are located in acute care settings for a variety of reasons, some of which include the hectic pace, the rapidly changing health status of the patients, and the size of the health care team
Several key themes emerged that helped to illuminate the issue of interprofessional collaboration for community health care providers
The element of time was described as a contributing factor when engaging in interprofessional collaboration

Summary

Introduction

Engaging in interprofessional collaboration is often a challenge for practitioners who are located in acute care settings for a variety of reasons, some of which include the hectic pace, the rapidly changing health status of the patients, and the size of the health care team. Older adults who are prone to falls due to chronic conditions require an integrated approach to care because, it is impossible for one discipline to adequately identify and address all of the client care issues and risk factors of falls [1, 2]. Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences of five different health care professionals as they participated in an interprofessional team approach to care for the frail older adult living at home and at risk of falling. Methodology: This study took place in Hamilton, ON, Canada and was part of a randomized controlled trial, the aim of which was to determine the effects and costs of a multifactorial and interdisciplinary team approach to fall prevention for older home care clients ‘at risk’ of falling. Findings from this study suggest that research needs to be conducted to further explore the issues faced by this group of care providers and potential client outcomes

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion