CDC Compendium on Effective Fall Interventions for the Elderly

By Fay Fulton

Older adult falls are common, costly, and deadly. The good news is that health care providers can help prevent many falls. CDC has new products to facilitate clinical fall prevention, including CDC’s updated Compendium for Effective Falls Interventions and new resources to help healthcare providers talk to their older patients about fall risk and prevention.

A CDC Compendium of Effective Fall Interventions: What Works for Community-Dwelling Older Adults, 4thedition

  1. Nine new interventions
  2. Total of 50 effective, evidence-based fall prevention interventions for older adults
  3. Includes information about key elements of the interventions, minimum level of training needed to implement, and original intervention materials

CDC has also released new STEADI resources created to help busy healthcare providers talk with their patients about fall prevention.

  1. Talking About Fall Prevention with Your Patients Quick Start Guide
    1. One-page reference sheet that provides a high-level flow chart with tips to use as a reference when talking with older patients
  2. Talking About Fall Prevention with Your Patients Discussion Guide Factsheet
    1. Ten-page guide that walks providers through key questions to ask their older patients and includes action items and tips

Additionally, recent CDC fall prevention publications may be of particular interest to healthcare providers, especially geriatricians:

  1. Validation and Comparison of Fall Screening Tools for Predicting Future Falls Among Older Adults
  2. Hip Fracture-related Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths by Mechanism of Injury Among Adults Aged 65 and Older, United States 2019
  3. Differences in Fall Related Emergency Department Visits with and Without an Injury, 2018
  4.  Preventing Falls Among Older Adults in Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Process Evaluation Using the RE-AIM Framework
  5. Development and Evaluation of Syndromic Surveillance Definitions for Fall- and Hip Fracture-related Emergency Department Visits Among Adults Aged 65 Years and Older, United States 2017-2018

Other Resources

  1. Assess your patient’s fall risk with the online interactive Falls Free CheckUp.
  2. Check out CDC’s Still Going Strong campaign, for resources to help your older patients stay safe and independent longer. 
  3. Continue your falls prevention education.
  4. Download the Stay Independent brochure for your patients (English | Spanish).
  5. Find other fall prevention resources available to clinicians.

 Making fall prevention a routine part of care saves lives and money.