Falls assessment and prevention: a multidisciplinary teaching intervention

Abstract

Falls are a common and important clinical problem, and with ageing populations worldwide it is important for health care professionals to learn about falls management. The multidisciplinary nature of falls teams also provides an ideal opportunity for interprofessional collaboration in teaching. In this article, we describe a pilot multidisciplinary falls assessment and prevention workshop for second-year medical students at a London medical school. An interprofessional team worked together to design and deliver this workshop. During a 90-minute clinical skills session, students rotated through medical, occupational therapy and physiotherapy areas. They worked in small groups, using brainstorming, discussion and practical exercises to learn about multiple risk factors contributing to falls, and how professionals work together in the management of patients at risk of falling. Evaluation was carried out using a combination of quantitative Likert ratings and qualitative free-text comments. The session was well received, with identified strengths and areas for improvement helping to confirm the importance of this workshop in the curriculum, and leading to improvements in the design for future sessions.