Fall Prevention Essay

Fall prevention is one of the biggest safety concerns regarding geriatric and pediatric patients in a health care setting. Falls occur almost every day in hospitals and nursing home settings because of a variety of reasons, from weak bones and throw rugs to toys lying in the floor. Tumbles can have grave effects on a child because they tend to play and not pay attention to their surroundings which causes them to take a spill. The consequences can be even worse for an older adult that suffers a fall giving their age and health concerns, this gives the elderly a disadvantage when falls transpire. Most people can help prevent falls from occurring but OTs (Occupational Therapist) are an elite group of people with knowledge and skills that train,

The knowledge that OTs have on fall prevention comes from research and EBP (Evidence Based Practice) this gives the OT knowledge on why falls happen and how to prevent falls from occurring. Occupational therapist can use this evidence and aim at certain areas to avoid falls, because sometimes it’s not the environment that person is in but the person themselves which causes them to fall. Client factors are another problem when it comes to falls in regards to leg weakness, medications, and poor balance these factors could also be life threatening for an elderly person. Educating patients is an important role in the occupational therapy process because this teaches that person fall risk and fall circumvention which gives that person a better understanding on fall prevention. Regardless of the setting, an OT can help older people reduce their risk of falling for example by giving a person adaptive equipment like a reacher by helping them reach for something that’s to low or too high for them to grasp which could result in a fall. Another example is a low rise bed which could keep that person from falling because that bed is too high to get in and