Preventing Falls by Reducing Risk

Course overview

Once an older adult is identified as being at risk of falling, physical therapists must develop and prioritize a problem list, set meaningful and measurable goals, identify appropriate interventions, provide appropriately dosed interventions, assess the interventions' outcomes, and make plans for discharge. This course will consider each of these factors, with an emphasis on evidence-based interventions, so that physical therapists can reduce an older adult's risk of falling effectively. This final course in our two-course series completes the triad of (1) understanding the neurophysiology of postural control and the age-related and disease-related factors that may compromise efficacy of balance systems, (2) determining an older person's individualized risk of falling, using both screening and multifactorial risk assessment strategies, and (3) developing evidence-based interventions that will reduce that risk.