The impact of falls on older people’s lives is serious. Around 60% of deaths and three-quarters of serious injuries to the over-65s are caused by falls. Every year, over 1,500 people over the age of 65 are killed by an accidental fall in the home.

In addition:

• 80% of deaths from accidents are in the over-65 age group
• 67% of non-fatal falls happen to an older person in the home
• 42% of fallers have at least an 18% reduction in activity after a fall

The first initiative of the Healthy Communities Collaborative was a one-year pilot falls reduction programme in 2002 involving three disadvantaged communities – Gateshead, Easington and Northampton. Its objectives were to:

• Reduce falls in older people by 30% in one year
• Create a template for multi-agency working
• Remove barriers which prevent organisations from engaging with communities
• Build social capital to stimulate a desire in the communities to move on to other topics.

In addition, the personal growth and development of a section of the population which was sometimes undervalued, and an increased sense of community in the programme areas, were very important.

This programme is now completed. If you are interested in working with the Improvement Foundation please go to How we can help or click here to contact us.

Who is involved

Initially, teams were recruited across three communities – Gateshead, Easington and Northampton – to test the idea over the one-year pilot. The teams consisted of community members and staff from relevant local agencies, including the voluntary sector. Deliberately, there were a greater proportion of community members than practitioners in each team.

What we are doing

The Health Development Agency carried out a review of the published evidence for falls reduction and distilled some key changes. These were:

• Programmes based on risk assessments and tailored to individuals are most successful
• Individually-tailored, home-based exercise programmes reduce falls, especially those based on T’ai Chi
• Hip protectors substantially reduce hip fractures in high-risk populations.

In addition, we know that medication and physical activity help to prevent and manage osteoporosis.

The Improvement Foundation was supported by colleagues from the Health Development Agency who collated a set of evidence on What Works in Reducing Falls in Older People. Using this evidence, they were able to present practical examples of effective measures that could be adopted by the teams and adapted for use in their own areas. 

Key results