News and updates from today's Falls Prevention in Older People virtual conference
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National Developments in Falls Prevention
Professor Cameron Swift
Emeritus Professor, Consultant Physician
Kings School of Medicine
Specialist Committee Member, Falls Prevention Quality Standard
NICE
• falls prevention and management - where are we now?
• reducing falls: lessons from the falls prevention improvement collaborative
• current developments, challenges and opportunities
Starting of today’s conference is chair Professor Cameron Swift. He gave a national development on falls prevention and management through many evidence based case studies.
Improving falls education, awareness and exercise in older people
Lisa Jordan-Manning
Physiotherapist and Team Leader for the Falls Therapy Service
Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust
• educating patients and the public to understand why falls happen, how to get up from a fall and how to reduce the risk of falling
• working with patients to improve strength and balance
• ensuring effective referral to your falls prevention programmes
Lisa began her talk talking about the various factors that go into managing falls in older people, including Shropshire Falls Therapy Service which are an expert in providing exercise programmes to those in recovery.
She then went on to explain the impact of COVID-19 on SFTS and the difficulty of a long-waiting list after staff were redeployed elsewhere. Lisa detailed the process of restoring the service with social distancing, 1-2-1 clinics and provision of PPE.
Further on the impact of COVID-19, Lisa also spoke about how important it is to be able to travel across the county giving talks on Falls Awareness which are starting to become more possible with restrictions gradually easing.
Her 1 hour educational talks are split into 20 minute talks detailing: why falls happen, how to manage a fall, and the importance of exercise. Lisa emphasises the ‘OTAGO Booklet’ which illustrates different types of exercise that can help an older person in recovery after falling. To demonstrate, she asked the audience to participate in a 30-Second Chair Stand Test.
Lisa concluded the presentation stating how important it is for others to learn about the exercises used for the recovery period after a fall to be able to better understand what it’s like for older people who have to manage their recovery.