Standing secure amidst a falling world? Practitioner understandings of old age in responses to a case vignette

The specialist knowledge and skills of health and social care practitioners working with older people are often unacknowledged. This paper examines an important aspect of specialist knowledge, the understandings of ageing and old age that underpin practice in a society where negative assumptions about old age and older people are widespread. These understandings were explored through analysis of data from 30 interviews with health and social care practitioners working with older people at risk of falling. The interviews centred on a case vignette and the analysis presented here focuses on respondents' perceptions of the scenario and of the reluctance of its subject, a 79-year-old woman, to seek help after a fall. The findings suggest that practitioners' understandings of older people are grounded in practice and personal experience, with little evidence of the use of theoretical or research-based knowledge of ageing and old age. This suggests that the potential for formal knowledge of ageing to support reflective and empowering practice with older people has yet to be fully exploited. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance to interprofessional practice of gerontological theory and research and suggestions for further research.