Educating health professionals to implement evidence-based falls screening in hospitals

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety research
• Clinical guideline implementation

Background:

• International guidelines recommend against routine use of traditional Falls Risk Assessment Tools (FRATs) in hospitals.
• Disinvestment from established, non-evidence-based services presents implementation challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply evidence-based education design to implement best practice guidelines for falls risk assessment.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on health professionals' knowledge and confidence in falls prevention.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods study involving questionnaires and semi-structured interviews across five Australian hospitals.
• Two cohorts: clinical leaders (Cohort 1) and frontline clinicians (Cohort 2).
• Cohort 1 received a 3-hour workshop on evidence-based falls screening and management, and training to deliver a 1-hour session to Cohort 2.

Main Results:

• The education workshop significantly improved clinical leaders' (Cohort 1) confidence in falls risk assessment and mitigation compared to frontline clinicians (Cohort 2).
• Cohort 1 reported increased preparedness and motivation for falls prevention six months post-workshop.
• An abridged education version showed no lasting effects.

Conclusions:

• Interactive education effectively equipped health professionals to use new evidence-based tools for mitigating patient falls.
• Education is crucial for disinvestment from non-evidence-based practices and successful clinical guideline implementation.
• Targeted, high-quality education fosters confidence and sustained adoption of best practices in falls prevention.