Implementation of a fall prevention protocol in a community with older adults in Bogotá, Colombia.

Abstract

Falls are a highly prevalent geriatric syndrome in older adults, generating a secondary increase in morbidity and mortality; that is why, in geriatric homes, the implementation of a fall prevention protocol is important. For the present study, a participatory intervention was carried out within a  community of older adults in the city of Bogotá, Colombia, in a period of 4 months; In this way, the high prevalence of falls in the community and the lack of knowledge of the caregiver regarding the subject were identified, after which the individual risk of falls of the residents was classified, and against that, a plan was created of work whose objective was to train the health personnel of the geriatric home, in front of the primary prevention depending on the individual risk and the acute management of falls, by means of the creation of a protocol. The intervention showed a high prevalence of high risk of falls in the community, an improvement in the acquisition and application of the knowledge acquired during the trainings by the staff and an awareness of the entire community about the relevance of the subject. This participatory intervention shows the importance of having an individualized protocol on the prevention and acute management of falls in geriatric residences, as well as the need to have health personnel properly trained on the subject.