Research project Falls are a major public health challenge among older adults, although much is already known about how they can be prevented. This project explores how fall prevention is currently organised and understood in Swedish primary care and what affects the ability to work more systematically and in line with current evidence. The findings will inform future adaptation of the World Falls Guidelines to Swedish regional and municipal primary care.
Fall prevention is an important part of supporting healthy ageing, but there is limited knowledge about how it is currently carried out in Swedish primary care. Through focus group interviews with health care professionals and managers, the project explores current practice, roles and responsibilities, and the organisational and individual factors that may support or hinder a more systematic approach based on current evidence and the World Falls Guidelines.
Falls among older adults can lead to injury, loss of independence and reduced quality of life, and also place a substantial burden on health care and society. There is strong evidence on how falls can be prevented. The World Falls Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for identifying fall risk and tailoring preventive measures to the needs of each individual.
Putting guidelines into practice is, however, not straightforward. Fall prevention involves several professions and is influenced by how responsibilities are shared, what resources are available and how services are organised. In Sweden, little is known about how fall prevention is understood and prioritised in primary care, or about the conditions needed to work more systematically in line with current evidence.
The aim of the project is to investigate how fall prevention is currently carried out in primary care and what affects the implementation of evidence-based fall prevention in practice. Particular attention is given to experiences of roles and responsibilities, as well as individual and organisational factors that may support or hinder a systematic approach to fall prevention.
The project is a qualitative study involving focus group interviews with health care professionals and managers in regional and municipal primary care. Participants may include physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physicians and nurses with experience of working with older adults or responsibility for fall prevention.
The project is expected to provide a deeper understanding of how fall prevention in primary care is shaped by health care professionals, professional roles and organisational conditions. The findings can highlight both practices that already work well and areas where barriers remain to a more systematic preventive approach. The results will provide a basis for further work to adapt evidence-based fall prevention and the World Falls Guidelines to the Swedish context and to develop approaches that are realistic to use in everyday primary care practice.
