Authors: (including presenting author): :
POON LY(1), NG HL(1), CHUI TC(1), CHAN WK(1), CHIN YM(1)
Affiliation: :
Occupational Therapy Department, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Introduction: :
Falls are a crucial public health concern among elderly, accounting for 74.5% of all injury incidents and frequently causing hospitalizations. Growing evidence indicates that telehealth programs with multicomponent interventions are effective in reducing fall risk and enhancing safety awareness.
Objectives: :
To study the effectiveness of a hybrid mode telehealth fall prevention program for the high-risk community-dwelling elderly and their carers, which was launched at Occupational Therapy Department of PYNEH in late 2024.
Methodology: :
20 community-dwelling adults aged 65 or above who had been admitted for falls at home with Morse Fall Scale ≥55 and required at most mild assistance with daily activities were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received two telehealth sessions—a group education talk and an individual home-visit consultation—and an onsite visit if necessary, in addition to conventional care. The control group received conventional care only, which included ADL training and basic fall prevention education. One participant from each group was withdrawn due to death Primary outcomes were the number of falls and emergency department visits due to falls within six months. Secondary outcomes included the Chinese versions of the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I(Ch))and the Chinese Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (Chinese Home FAST), assessed pre-intervention and 6 months post-intervention.
Result & Outcome: :
The experimental group had one episode of fall and no fall-related emergency visits, while the control group had two episodes of falls and two fall-related emergency visits. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test indicated significant improvements on both the FES-I (Ch) (p = 0.008) and Chinese Home FAST (p = 0.018) in the experimental group from pre- to post-intervention, while no significant changes were noted in the control group between pre- and post-assessment. The Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant differences between groups in FES-I (Ch) and Chinese Home FAST scores. The hybrid telehealth program significantly raised fall risk awareness, improved self-efficacy, and enhanced home safety among high-risk community-dwelling adults. Holistic, personalized assessments and interventions addressing the interplay of personal abilities, social contexts, and environmental conditions done by the occupational therapists facilitate this improvement. Although between-group differences lacked statistical significance, the promising within-group improvements emphasize the program’s transformative potential. Larger-scale studies with longer follow-up periods are needed to comprehensively evaluate the program’s effectiveness in fall prevention.
