Community Intervention In Elderly Population: A Fall Prevention Project

Abstract

Objective: This article seeks to present a pilot project of community intervention that aims to prevent the occurrence of falls in the elderly in a community setting. Method: It is a prospective study in the temporal relationship, based on Health Planning, it was developed for 9 weeks in a Community Care Unit in the Northern Region of Portugal. Data collection and interventions were performed in the home of 6 of the 12 elderly being followed up at home by the nursing team. Elderly institutionalized and totally dependent were excluded. For the collection of data, an evaluation protocol was filled out using the Morse scale, validated for the Portuguese population, to assess the risk of falls.   Results: Of the elderly who underwent nursing interventions, 50% presented a high risk of falls. Epidemiological indicators show that the incidence rate of falls was 0% and the prevalence rate of falls, in the last year was, 37.5%.  Conclusion: The data collected was used for the production of epidemiological indicators, structure, process, and results. It is suggested to continue the project for one year, covering a larger sample and subsequent evaluation, and the creation of indicators for informal care providers.