Falls Reduction in Long-Term Care Facilities: A Preliminary Report of a New Internet-Based Behavioral Technique
Objective
To investigate an Internet-based psychological intervention targeting behavioral factors related to falls among residents of long-term care communities.
Design
Retrospective A-B design with 90-day look-back.
Setting
Long-term care communities in New York State (N
=4, 3 SNF, 1 ALF).
Participants
Nursing home residents (N=26).
Intervention
Internet-based programmed learning system using cognitive- and behavioral-based techniques.
Measurements
Direct measures of documented falls in the medical record, perceived risk and burden scales, Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), Attitudes to Falls-Related Interventions Scale (AFRIS).
Results
Reductions in documented falls by 52% along with substantial reductions in staff ratings of risk and burden.
Conclusion
Behavioral treatment of risk factors related to falls within a structured delivery using Internet-based intervention may be an effective and efficient mechanism for treating fall risk in long-term care settings.
Keywords: Falls reduction, behavioral, cognitive, Internet
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Conflict of interest statement: The corresponding author (I.J.M.) serves as a consultant to MB Management Services, Inc., which holds the copyright for the Internet-based program described in the article.
PII: S1525-8610(09)00243-6
doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2009.06.005
© 2009 American Medical Directors Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
