Evaluation Of Hospital-Based Fall Prevention Program

Title: Evaluation Of A Hospital-Based Fall Prevention Program Author: Keir Ringquist Abstract: Background: In response to The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals (The Joint Commission, 2005), developed to prevent falls in hospitalized patients, the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago (UIMCC) implemented a fall reduction task force in spring 2006. The fall reduction task force examined best practices and literature and developed a fall prevention program (FPP) using an input-transformation-output model as well as a logic model. The program was implemented in fall 2007. Methods: Data related to patient falls were collected 1 year prior to and 1 year after implementation of the FPP to analyze whether there had been any change in the fall rate, the severity of falls, and the types of falls that patients experience while in the hospital. Results: The results indicated a significant change in the fall rate from preintervention to postintervention of the FPP. No statistically significant change was observed in patients from the preintervention period to the postintervention period in terms of either severity of falls or the types of falls reported. Conclusions: This study suggests that the implementation of the FPP devised by UIMCC was effective at reducing the fall rate of hospitalized patients.