I recently finished writing a discussion paper about a population health
approach to preventing falls (in Nova Scotia), which will be available for
distribution shortly.
Interestingly, I found that while there is a lot of activity on preventing
falls in the US, it is primarily done from a medical model - working with
high risk individuals, not populations.
The countries where I have found some very interesting population health
work in preventing falls are Norway and Australia. For those interested, I
would highly recommend the following resources. While the Norway paper,
the last on the list, may require a little more effort to access, it is
well worth it.
Government of Australia document: National Falls Prevention for Older
People Initiative 1999-2003, Background Paper.
Http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/strateg/injury/falls/demo/pdf/bg_paper.pdf
Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care (2000) National Falls
Prevention for Older People Initiative "Step out with Confidence": A Study
into the Information Needs and Perceptions of Older Australians Concerning
Falls and their Prevention. Canberra, Australia.
http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/publicat/document/fallsinfo.pdf
Gallagher, E and V Scott (1997) The STEPS Project: Participatory action
research to reduce falls in public places among seniors and persons with
disabilities. Can J Public Health 88(2)129-133.
Gallagher, E and H Brunt (1996) Head over heels: A program to reduce
falls among the elderly. Can J Aging 15(1):84-96.
Gallagher, E and V Scott (1996) Taking Steps: Modifying pedestrian
environments to reduce the risk of missteps and falls. Victoria BC,
University of Victoria School of Nursing
Hahn, A, E Van Beurden, A Kempton, T Sladden and E Garner (1996) Meeting
the challenge of falls prevention at the population level: A
community-based intervention with older people in Australia. Health
Promotion Int 11(3):203-211.
Health Department of Western Australia, Public Health Division (1998)
Stay on Your Feet - Action Plan. Perth, Australia.
http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/SOYF/action.pdf
National Ageing Research Institute (2000) An Analysis of Research on
Preventing Falls and Falls Injury in Older People. Report to the
Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Injury Prevention
Section. Canberra, Australia.
Ytterstad, B (1996) The Harstad injury prevention study: Community based
prevention of fall-fractures in the elderly evaluated by means of a
hospital based injury recording system in Norway. J Epidemiol Community
Health 50:551-555.
Regards
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Susan Lilley
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Looking for information on health promotion?
Visit the Community Health Promotion Network Atlantic "Sharinghouse" at
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/CommunitySupport/CHPNA/
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