This quality standard covers assessment after a fall and preventing further falls (secondary prevention) in older people living in the community and during a hospital stay. Secondary prevention focuses on interventions targeted at older people with a history of falls. Older people are those aged 65 years and over.
This document, Preventing Falls and Harm From Falls in Older People: Best Practice Guidelines for Australian Hospitals 2009, aims to reduce the number of falls and the harm caused by falls experienced by older people in hospital care.
These guidelines updated in June 2013 provide recommendations for the assessment and prevention of falls in older people. The NICE guidelines offers best practice advice on the care of older people who are at risk of falling which all healthcare professionals in England should follow. The guidelines are useful for clinicians in other regions. Specific recommendations to prevent falls in hospital include a multifactorial assessment of falls risk factor.