Health Care Data and Methods of Preventing Falls - Research Paper Example

Fall prevention: systematic review. Introduction. Old people suffer from falls every year that causetheir death and other serious health effects on the victims. The falls are caused by a multi- factorial causes and for treatment to be administered it requires a professional who understands different disciplines of medicine to treat the injuries and also come up with means through which the falls can be prevented from occurring in the future again (Sarofim, 2012). The falls include dropping from a standing position or exposed positions as while on a ladder or on staircases. The extent of the injury is always dependent on the height of the fall with individuals falling from a higher grounds suffering major scores. Also, the nature of the floor that one lands affects the impact with harder floors causing severe injury (Zuyev, 2011). Literature review. Apart from the physical injury that the faller suffers he/she may suffer other risks associated with falling. For example, according to Brownsell and Hawley (2010) the appearance of another factor that may cause a fall can affect the faller psychologically and for this reason the treatment is tailored towards treating the factors caused the fall. The factors can be intrinsic or external. The external factors include things to do with the environmental orientation while the intrinsic factors include things to do with ailments (Friedman, Munoz, West, Rubin, Fried, 2011). A fall mostly occurs when an individual’s Centre of mass happens to go outside the body support base. According to research the posture of individuals may cause a fall with the structure of legs playing a major role in determining the stability of an individual (Scheffer and Schuurmans, 2008). A performance of dual task tests on individuals can help detect the individuals with the risk of easy fall and take precautionary actions. As researched by the World Health Organization, it is predicted that 28%- 35% 0f persons aged above 65 years old fall every year while those aged above 70 years having an increased rate of 325 – 42%. According to Dykes (2010), the biological changes that come with age are the major cause of falls and injuries related to falls. It is also predicted that if no measures are put in place the injuries caused by falls are going to increase at a very high to a very high rate. Since falls are a major problem to public health mostly affecting the old people, several methods of preventing the falls have been invented and implemented to try and help in reducing the falls (Pesanka and Greenhouse, 2009). This study is going to try and explain the current findings in the fall prevention and the questions that clinical research has asked concerning the reduction of falls. There is a direct relationship of falling and the fear of falling (Oliver, 2009). According to Oliver and Connelly (2009) most fallers are not able to get up fast without support which increases the chance of getting pressure sores, hypothermia, bronchopneumonia and dehydration especially when an individual falls and loses consciousness. More than 20% of patients who are admitted in the hospital due to a fall had lied on the floor for more than one hour without help with their morbidity rate having been very high before that fall (Cameron, 2012). . Methodology. Different respondents ranging from professionals to patients were sampled and asked different questions concerning the falls and how to be prevented and other issues about the fall detection. The challenges, trends and issues that arise were reported by the different responds. Books and works written about the topic were also reviewed to provide a deeper insight into the matter. The results from the survey concerning the current findings that and how to prevent falls are as outlined in the following paragraphs. Results and Analysis. The study established the risk factor that increased the chances of a person falling. A person with an altered mental status was at high risk of falling because of confusions and disorientation. The fall history of a person with those people who have had falls in the past at high risk of falling again (Hempel and Newberry, 2012). The medication that a person is undergoing can cause falls with those that affect the nervous system like the sedatives and tranquilizers increases the chances of falls. The diagnosis of an individual is another cause of falls with people with anemia, neoplasms, cognitive heart failure, stroke and cerebrovascular accident being highly ranked fall risks (Stern and Jayasekara, 2009). The individuals with these ailments desire high level attention by the nurses who are to observe them all round. The study established that there are several aspects that must be considered so as to ensure that fall prevention efforts bear fruits. The efforts should be balanced with the priorities on the sick person is admitted for because if a fall occurs it can prolong the period of staying in the hospital. Gillespie and Robertson (2009), stated that they should be balanced with the desires to move patients from place to place because leaving patients in beds so as to avoid falling may cause complications due to bed rest. In addition, the methods of preventing falls should be customized because different patients have different preferences. The sample allocated was asked to give their views on how to prevent the falls. The suggestions on the things that need to be done are as follows; teamwork, patient report, involving patient’s family and environment. The nurses identified that a verbal exchange with the patients was the most appropriate method to obtain the ideas concerning how risky the individual is for falling. They commented that the reporting on the condition of patients varied from person to person and the attention to be extended depended on the nature of the information given. Patients with sign of the risk of fall are to undergo sight testing to determine their sight capability (Hempel and Newberry, 2012). T is determined that poor vision is amongst the causes of falls. Stiles and Walsh, (2011), commended that the visibility in many people reduces with age forcing them to use seeing devices like the spectacles. The question about how to prevent falls have led to the establishment of bed alarms that are able to sense and alert the nurse that the patient has fallen or about to fall (Boushon, 2008). Tidelksaar evaluated that the bed alarms are very effective in offering acute care to patients. Evaluation of patients past records is another way suggested by Hempel and Newberry (2012) so as to understand the level of the risk. The events of falling that have occurred to a person should be analyzed to determine the trend. High risk individuals should be given more attention according to the frequency with which they fall. If somebody has collapsed in the past they tend to develop the fear of falling which increases the chances of falling again. There are calls for persistent exercises by the old folk to ensure their body stability. Exercises work on muscles, gait and balance of the body is also put in check. There has been an encouragement to participate in group and individual exercises at home and other places of residence. Group fitness exercises programs to prevent falls have are conducted twice or thrice a week for an average of one hour. And are managed and supervised by a physical therapist. The exercises include a combination of activities to improve balance, flexibility, aerobic conditioning and strength development. According to Dykes (2010) there is a need for multiple interventions that aim at the patients personally. The risks of falling should be assessed and the appropriate program put in place. The program is aimed at assessing a patient’s risk of falling the incorporating the effective intervention mechanism. Pesanka (2009) said that as an individual’s risk of falling increases more interventions are employed to safeguard them. Neiman (2011) established that educational sessions have been the most widely used mechanism to prevent falls. Through this method staff has been trained to increase the awareness about high risk patients and the methods to prevent falls, the patients and their families have been informed about the safety issues, risks of falling and the limitations of the activities to be involved in (Quigley, 2009), teaching patients on how to change positions swiftly so that they do not fall, orientating the patients about the bed area, how to get assistance and also giving the information about the ward facilities. Wayland, 2010) mentioned on the environmental factors that need to be deliberated to guarantee that the environment is safe and does not cause falls by patients by reducing environmental risks, bed slides and the obstacles, night lights in the toilets and rooms, establishing grab bars fitted in a vertical manner. The potential hazards are identified and removed from the environment. In institutions, safety policies and actions have been laid down to guarantee that the clients and staff are safe. There is advocating for efficient lighting and installing handrails in hall s, ensuring spilled floors are moped immediately and fitting the beds to a proper height in patient rooms. The above findings and analysis provides an ample view to an interested party on the causes of falls, their prevention mechanisms in place and a basis for implementing new and advanced methods to improve on the areas not fully exploited. The safety of patients in the hospital should be given apriority in order to reduce deaths and costs that come with falls (Kolin and Minnier, 2010). Conclusion. The evidence of the increasing cost affecting the budgets of nations and the deaths caused by the falls have been on the forefront for the establishment of the mechanisms to detect and prevent falls. There are several issues which cause falls with aging being a major cause of falls in old people and mental health and diagnosis of individuals being among other causes of falls. Preventing the falls requires a wide understanding of the patient’s condition and analyzing their past events of falls so as to put in place measures that will bear fruits. To ensure successful measures of fall prevention the clinical attendant research has asked many question amongst them, the method of preventing falls that one is be able to use and what factors need to be incorporated in the fall prevention methods. References. Boushon B, Nielsen G, Quigley P, et al. 2008. Transforming care at the bedside how-to guide: reducing patient injuries from falls. Cambridge, MA: Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Rubenstein LZ, Josephson KR. The epidemiology of falls and syncope. Clin Geriatr Med. 2002; 12:141–58. 10.1016/S0749-0690(02)00002-2. World Health Organization. Global report on falls prevention in older age. Sarofim, M. 2012. "Predicting falls in the elderly: do dual-task tests offer any added value? A systematic review". AMSJ; 3(2): 13–19. Brownsell S, Hawley MS. 2010. Automatic fall detectors and the fear of falling. J Telemed Telecare.12:262–266. Friedman SM, Munoz B, West SK, Rubin GS, Fried LP.2011. Falls and Fear of Falling: Which Comes First? A Longitudinal Prediction Model Suggests Strategies for Primary and Secondary Prevention. J Am Geriatr Soc; 12:1329–1335. Shorr RI, Mion LC, Chandler AM, et al. 2008. Improving the capture of fall events in hospitals: combining a service for evaluating inpatient falls with an incident report system. J Am Geriatr Soc;56:701-4. Zuyev L, Benoit AN, Chang FY, et al 2011. Tailored prevention of inpatient falls: development and usability testing of the fall TIPS toolkit. Comput Inform Nurs 29:TC21-8. Dykes PC, Carroll DL, Hurley a, et al 2010. Fall prevention in acute care hospitals: a randomized trial. JAMA 2010; 304(17). Pesanka DA, Greenhouse PK, Rack LL, et al, 2009. Ticket to ride: reducing handoff risk during hospital patient transport. J Nurs Care Qual; 24:109-15. Oliver D, Healey F, 2009. Falls risk prediction tools for hospital inpatients: do they work? Nursing Times; 105:18-21. Harvey K, Kramlich D, Chapman J, et al, 2010. Exploring and evaluating five paediatric falls assessment instruments and injury risk indicators: an ambispective study in a tertiary care setting. J Nurs Manage 18:531-41. Sadler BL, Berry LL, Guenther R, et al.2011. Fable hospital 2.0: the business case for building better health care facilities. Hastings Cent Rep; 41:13-23. Neiman J, Rannie M, Thrasher J, t al.2011. Development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive fall risk program. J Spec Pediatr Nurs16(2):130-9. Quigley PA, Hahm B, Collazo S, et al.2009. Reducing serious injury from falls in two veterans‘hospital medical surgical units. J Nurs Care Qual 24(1):33 -41. Kolin MM, Minnier T, Hale KM, et al.2010. Fall initiatives: redesigning best practice. J Nurs Adm;40(9):384-91. Wayland L, Holt L, Sewell S,et al.2010. Reducing the patient fall rate in a rural health system. J Healthc Qual;32(2):9-14; quiz 14-15. Beasley B, Patatanian E.2009. Development and implementation of a pharmacy fall prevention program. Hosp Pharn; 44:1095-1102. Perry JT, Kellog S, Vaidya SM, Youn JH, Ali H, Sharif H. 2009. Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium High-Capacity Optical Networks and Enabling Technologies. Alexandria: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Mubashir M, Shao L, Seed L. 2012. A survey on fall detection: Principles and approaches. Neurocomputing. 12:144–152. The Joint Commission, 2008. National Patient Safety Goals. Oliver D, Connelly JB, Victor CR, et al.2009. Strategies to prevent falls and fractures in hospitals and care homes and effect of cognitive impairment: systematic review and meta-analyses. BMJ. 20334(7584):82–87. Cameron ID, Murray GR, Gillespie LD et al.2012. Interventions for preventing falls in older people in nursing care facilities and hospitals. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 12:CD005465. Oliver D, Healey F, Haines TP.2010. Preventing falls and fall-related injuries in hospitals. Clin Geriatr Med 26:645–692. Dykes PC, Carroll DL, Hurley A et al, 2010. Fall prevention in acute care hospitals: A randomized trial. JAMA, 304. Stern C, Jayasekara R. 2009. Interventions to reduce the incidence of falls in older adult patients in acute-care hospitals: A systematic review. Int J Evid Based Healthc; 7:243–249. Hempel S, Newberry S, Wang Z et al. 2012. Review of the Evidence on Falls Prevention in Hospitals: Task 4 Final Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, [on-line]. Available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR907 Accessed August 15, 2012. Cozart HCT. 2009. Environmental Effects on Incidence of fall in the Hospitalized Elderly. Denton, TX: Texas Womans University. Scheffer AC, Schuurmans MJ, van Dijk N, van der Hooft T, de Rooij SE, 2008. Fear of falling: measurement strategy, prevalence, risk factors and consequences among older persons. Age Ageing. ; 12:19–24. Gillespie LD, Robertson MC, Gillespie WJ, Lamb SE, Gates S, Cumming RG, Rowe BH. 2009. Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD007146. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007146.pub2. Stiles M, Walsh K. 2011. Care of the elderly patient.In: Rakel RE, ed. Textbook of Family Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; chap 4. Read More