Provider Education on STEADI and Falls in the Older Adult Community

Abstract

Background: Falls are detrimental and significantly impact the quality of life for adults age 65 and older, deemed a global health issue by the World Health Organization (WHO). Addressing modifiable risk factors will help decrease falls, and the CDC developed a fall risk assessment tool—Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI)— to help providers screen older adults for falls. This project aims to examine comprehensive health assessment (CHA) providers' knowledge of STEADI using a pre and post-educational intervention. Methods: The educational intervention was developed in light of Lewin’s change theory. CHA providers were then informed about the educational intervention and recruited to participate through an email that included a pre-test about falls. One week later, participants were sent an educational video about falls. Participation was indicative of their consent, and, one week later, participants were sent a post-test and post-implementation survey. Results: Demographics of recruited participants included 1 male and 6 females. The pre-test results revealed a total average score of 75%. The post-test score was 82%; this slight improvement was not significant. The number of years as an advanced practice nurse was between 22 and 25 years. Conclusion: This project demonstrated that an educational intervention increased APRNs’ fall-related knowledge. As the results for this particular study were not statistically significant, follow-up studies should investigate other educational methods and how to increase provider knowledge base. Notably, every participant demonstrated the intent to incorporate STEADI into their future practice. This may indicate that the providers’ noted that this would be of benefit to their practice and patients.