Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Scholarly Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
Department
Occupational Therapy
First Advisor
Breann Lamborn
Abstract
Background: Hospital-acquired falls can lead to severe injuries and complications, posing significant challenges for patient safety and the healthcare facility (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2023). Healthcare workers in rural, Critical Access Hospitals often handle a wide range of responsibilities due to the smaller staff size, limited resources, and difficulty retaining or recruiting staff due to the remote location, typically resulting in fall prevention being less prioritized (Abelsen et al., 2020; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2023). Addressing patient safety and fall prevention strategies is an organizational and systemic challenge that requires evidence-based education and an interdisciplinary team to raise awareness, shift individual behaviors, and improve patient outcomes (Lopez-Jeng & Eberth, 2019). Although there is extensive research on fall prevention programs, the evidence and ability to generalize rural hospitals’ unique needs and contextual differences are low (LeLaurin, 2019; Shaw et al., 2020).
Purpose: This scholarly project aimed to develop a fall prevention program and educational resource for the interdisciplinary team working in rural hospital settings and to give recommendations on enhancing collaboration among team members.
Methods: A literature review needs assessment identified the interdisciplinary team’s overall needs and guided the development of a fall prevention program specific to the rural hospital setting. The author was permitted to collaborate with the interdisciplinary team at a Critical Access Hospital to develop an educational fall prevention program tailored to their unique needs. The ecology of human performance model was used throughout the literature review, needs assessment, and development of this product to provide a structural framework for analyzing and interpreting data (Dunn, 2017).
Results: An educational guide with supplemental handouts was created, distributed, and presented to the department heads of occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, nursing, and pharmacy. The department heads are expected to provide these materials to members of the healthcare team and host team training sessions using this program as a guide.
Conclusion: Healthcare workers have a complex set of goals when treating hospitalized patients. Their goals are to treat the patient’s condition that led to admission, keep the patient safe, and help them maintain or recover to their physical and mental baselines, sometimes resulting in lessprioritized fall prevention (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2023). This project aimed to develop an educational resource and opportunity for healthcare providers to learn best practices using an evidence-based approach to fall prevention that applies to rural hospitals.
Recommended Citation
Pullar, Casidi, "An Interdisciplinary Approach To Fall Prevention In Rural Health" (2024). Occupational Therapy Capstones. 606.
https://commons.und.edu/ot-grad/606