Increasing Identification of High Fall Risk in Community-Dwelling Seniors 65 and Older Through Primary Care Screening Using the STEADI Three Key Questions Fall Risk Screening Tool
Abstract
More than one in four people 65 years of age and older will experience a fall in the next year. Falling once will double the chance of a person 65 years of age and older falling again. Falls can affect patients physically, psychologically, and financially. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed an older adult fall prevention initiative, Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries (STEADI). The STEADI Initiative's three core elements are screening, assessing, and intervening. This quality improvement project’s aim was two-fold. First, this quality improvement project examined the correlation between the screening frequency of people aged 65 and older in a primary care setting and the identification of patients at high risk for falls. Secondly, this quality improvement project compared two fall-risk screening tools in terms of the ability to identify high fall risk in people 65 years of age and older. The two fall risk screening tools compared are the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) fall risk screening tool and the STEADI Three Key Questions fall risk screening tool. This QIP used the STEADI-developed Three Key Questions screening tool and fall screening frequency guidelines to update the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) at the three primary care practices at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) within Southern New England. The quantitative information collected revealed an increase in screening frequency but did not show a statistically significant change in the amount of screening that occurred. The STEADI Three Key Questions screening tool showed a statistically significant increase in identifying high fall risk compared to the Medicare ACO screening tool.
Disciplines
Geriatric Nursing | Health Services Administration | Nursing
Subject Area
Health care management
Recommended Citation
Blade Mello, Michelle, "Increasing Identification of High Fall Risk in Community-Dwelling Seniors 65 and Older Through Primary Care Screening Using the STEADI Three Key Questions Fall Risk Screening Tool" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations. 212.
https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/doctoral_dissertations/212
Department
Nursing (NUR)
First Advisor
Sharon Stager
Date of Award
Winter 12-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.