Project Description:
A year-long safety campaign was launched in 2008 by The Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) to enhance awareness of issues associated with falls and increase attention to the need for reducing fall-related risk among persons served by the DMR community. An analysis of injuries reported to be caused by falls in the population served by DMR was recently completed by the Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research(CDDER). The report indicates a total of 1505 associated injuries that were caused by a fall during the September 2006 ? August 2007 reporting period. In fact, 35% of all reported injuries in the year reviewed were related to a fall. Recognizing that falls are often a preventable occurrence, the DMR Statewide Quality Council recommended that DMR embark on activities with the goal of reducing falls among the DMR population.
Literature aimed at falls reduction in the senior population, as well as the population of people with intellectual and developmental disability establishes that falls are most effectively reduced through a multi-faceted approach. As such, goals of this project include raising falls-risk awareness and training of individuals, staff and family, implementing environmental and other changes to reduce specific risks, and working to support improvements in individuals? balance, strength and flexibility. Falls prevention materials were developed and distributed by CDDER. Additionally, approximately 350 people attended training sessions, which were designed to raise awareness about falls prevention, to familiarize clinicians and staff with the tools and resources on the CD, and to promote further training within agencies.
Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at even greater risk of injury in case of a fall due to limited mobility, neurological impairments that may affect balance, or use of medications that reduce bone density. While there are many programs in place to address falls in the general elderly population, there is very little information available that could inform policy in the area of falls prevention in the population with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The corner stone of the falls prevention initiative is the STOP Falls pilot, co-coordinated by DDS and CDDER. STOP Falls is a pilot program throughout the state to gather information on all falls experienced by individuals, including those that do not result in injury. Data collected during this pilot will help identify locations, times, activities, symptoms, and environmental conditions that place individuals at an increased risk for falling, and help reduce future falls Approximately 750 consumers from five provider agencies throughout Massachusetts are participating in the falls pilot. Provider agencies are piloting processes for collecting, aggregating, and reporting on falls data with a goal of developing systems for analyzing trends in their falls data. DMR and CDDER will also conduct aggregate analysis on the falls data once the pilot is completed. This pilot runs from March to August 2009. Information and identification of falls patterns for this population from the STOP Falls pilot will benefit MA provider agencies, DMR, and contribute to the further research in this field.
