Preparing for Delivery of Patient Falls Prevention Education in Hospitals: The Consumer Perspective

Falls in hospital are a serious risk to older patients' recovery. Patient education programmes that provide falls prevention advice are recommended. Garnering the perspectives of older adults about implementing such programmes could improve how health professionals engage with hospital patients to educate them and increase patient enactment of falls prevention advice.

Two forums, in two states of Australia, were conducted using a modified World Café methodology. Older consumers who had previous admissions to hospital shared their perspectives on three conversation topics: (i) delivery of a purpose-designed patient falls prevention education programme called Safe Recovery; (ii) ward-level support for programme delivery; and (iii) organisational-level support for the programme. Table notes were combined and analysed using inductive content analysis.

Older consumers who could communicate in English from Western Australia (n = 17) and Victoria (n = 16) participated in the forums. Their perspectives appeared to concur that implementation of the Safe Recovery Programme for falls prevention on hospital wards requires staff attention to the right timing for patients, personalisation of the education and multiple modes of delivery to optimise programme exposure. Consumers advised that ward-level support to remember and enact suitable strategies should be provided by staff, families, hospital volunteers and peers. They requested clear communication between staff that ensured they repeatedly and consistently reinforced patient participation and provided progress reports to patients on falls prevention. Organisations can support implementation by taking ownership for ensuring patients receive falls prevention education, endorse staff falls education training and allocate funding for programme sustainability. The group consensus was everyone can work together to prioritise falls prevention in hospitals.

Older consumers expressed their enthusiasm to partner in planning how a patient falls prevention education programme is delivered on hospital wards. Consumer engagement can provide valuable stakeholder feedback about processes and resources required for delivery of patient falls prevention education, which may lead to successful delivery by hospitals.

The research team includes a consumer investigator (SP) who has provided feedback and input at all stages of the research, including project design, study procedures, data analysis and manuscript review. The education programme's original design and development was centred around patient and public involvement. The participants in this study who attended the world café forums were older people with lived experience of hospital admissions and caregivers of older people admitted to hospital.