Kontakt 2017, 19(2):e105-e115 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2017.04.003

The effectiveness of intervention programs for preventing patients from fallsNursing - Review article

Jana Horová^a,b,*, Iva Brabcová^a, Jitka Krocová^b

^a Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, Ústav ošetřovatelství, porodní asistence a neodkladné péče, České Budějovice, Česká republika

^b Západočeská univerzita v Plzni, Fakulta zdravotnických studií, katedra ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence, Plzeň, Česká republika

The goal was to write a review article which would summarize the conclusions of empirical studies on the effectiveness of preventive programs established in hospitals over the last 5 years.
Incorporated research studies were found by using seven electronic databases on nursing and related health professional research (full text databases: Cinahl, Ebsco, Nursing Ovid, ProQuest STM+ Hospital Collection - Medline, Science Direct and citation databases PubMed and Scopus) entering keywords: accidental falls, effectiveness, fall prevention programs, institution. Other search criteria were: full text, reviewed publications, English language, human subject (human) and research results published within the last 5 years (namely 2011-2016).
Twelve research studies meeting the required criteria were incorporated in the final review. The most often mentioned intervention strategy was the education of patients and staff. Whether the programs, which were focused on educational influence, are effective depends on areas involving the so called "soft-factors", i.e. compliance, leadership, and proper team training, along with information technology support, both with staff and - in certain fields - patients.
Curriculums of the currently preferred multifaceted intervention program involve education. The focus and course of the education process should correspond with the information from the field of fall prevention, gained by evidence-based nursing, and respect the individual assessment of each patient, as is stated by most authors of related research studies.

Keywords: Effectiveness; Fall; Patient; Institution; Preventive program

Received: October 17, 2016; Revised: March 9, 2017; Accepted: April 19, 2017; Published: June 26, 2017  Show citation