Falls in care homes

Post-falls in care homes

Developing post-falls management principles in care homes

Older people living in care homes are at high risk of falling. Falls can cause serious injuries and are costly for health and social care systems. Timely assessment and immediate support are required when residents fall. This is known as post-falls management.

Residents who fall may need help from several organisations, such as the care home, ambulance, hospital, primary and community care teams. However, coordinating post-falls management can be challenging. Organisations may have different ways of working and views on the best approach. Care home residents, relatives, staff and health professionals have highlighted that guidance to support post-falls management is needed.

pic

About the project

Our NUH Allied Health Professionals are working with health and care professionals and residents to develop consistent, national principles for post-falls management that can be used across care home and health and social care organisations.

The project is being completed in partnership with the University of Nottingham, East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Avery Healthcare Group. We are also collaborating with Care England.

The project follows on from research to develop a falls prevention programme called Action Falls, led by the University of Nottingham.

What is involved in this project?

There are four stages to this research:

1) We will map current organisational processes after a fall using an online survey.

2) We will map what happens after residents fall in care homes by reviewing care home records to understand how decisions are made. This is known as patient journey mapping.

3) We will explore different views on how falls are managed and what to include in the principles by interviewing care home residents, their relatives, and care home and health staff.

4) We will agree principles for post-falls management by consulting a panel from a range of organisations and settings.

The benefits to care home residents

The principles are intended to support safe, consistent care for older people who fall in care homes. They are expected to raise awareness of post-falls management. We anticipate that the principles will support shared understanding and decision-making between residents, families, and care home and healthcare staff. This work will inform a research funding application to explore whether consistent principles prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and improve care experiences.

A Patient and Public Involvement group, including care home residents, relatives and staff will inform all stages of the research.

What have we done so far?

We carried out an online survey to map current post-falls management processes. We are currently analysing the responses.

We are now starting the patient journey mapping and the interviews with residents and relatives, care home and healthcare staff. These are due to be completed by the end of 2026.

For more information

If you would like more information and receive updates about the research, email the research team:

nuhnt.postfalls@nhs.net

This research is led by Dr Fran Hallam-Bowles, Allied Health Professional Researcher at NUH, and Dr Katie Robinson, Principal Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham.

The research team also includes Dr Janet Darby and Dr Natalie Gray, Allied Health Professional Researchers at NUH.

This study/project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) [Research for Patient Benefit (NIHR208177)]. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.