Posters for 3rd World Falls Congress 2026

Introduction: Falls are a leading cause of injury, loss of independence, and reduced quality of life among older adults. While health professionals play a central role in falls prevention through clinical practice, their contribution through professional volunteering remains underexplored. Volunteering offers dual benefits: it enhances community access to falls‑prevention initiatives and supports volunteers’ own physical, social, and cognitive wellbeing—key determinants of healthy ageing. This study synthesises evidence on health professionals’ volunteering and examines its potential as an

Introduction: Perspectives of older people must be considered when designing falls prevention interventions. Co-design methodology encourages active engagement with end-knowledge users. MOVE Together: Reduce Falls is a co-designed intervention to promote participation in falls prevention exercise among older people from Italian, Chinese and Arabic speaking communities. Implementability needs to be considered while designing interventions. Our study explored implementability of the MOVE Together: Reduce Falls intervention at prototype testing phase. Methods: This mixed methods study explored

Introduction Falls in older adults are multifactorial, with orthostatic hypotension recognised as a key modifiable risk factor. Lying and standing blood pressure (LSBP) measurement is used to identify this. This study aimed to assess whether LSBP assessment in patients reviewed by the acute frailty team prompted medication optimisation and reduced fall-related hospital readmissions over 12 months. Methods A retrospective study was conducted at a district general hospital involving patients reviewed by the acute frailty team between 2023-2024. A total of 2,631 patients with Clinical Frailty

Introduction: Balance can be described as how the body is controlled relative to the base of support (BOS) formed by the feet . Recently, a 2D model of the functional BOS (fBOS), above which we can manipulate functional forces (>40% body weight), considerably improved the BOS estimate (Millard+Sloot2025). However, young people showed a large variation in fBOS area (9-36% of the foot), representing differences in either balance ability or task execution. This study examined whether task execution (fear and motivation) influence the measured fBOS area and fBOS repeatability. Methods: Ten young

Introduction: Exercise-based programmes reduce falls in older adults, yet adherence is often suboptimal. There is evidence to support the use of motivational interviewing (MI) for strengthening motivation for behaviour change; but its additive benefit with exercise for falls prevention remains unclear. This systematic review examined whether exercise and MI improve falls-related outcomes among older adults. Method: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science and EMBASE were searched from inception to September 2025. Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials were eligible if MI was

Introduction Falls are the leading cause of injury-related mortality and hospitalization in older adults and are frequently related to medication use. In the AD FICE_IT study, we examine the effectiveness of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for optimizing medication use and reducing fall risk increasing drugs (FRIDs). We describe the study design and present preliminary findings on physicians’ satisfaction with the CDSS. Methods To evaluate the effect of the CDSS on time to first injurious fall, a multicenter, cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in nine Dutch hospitals

Introduction: Fall prevention exercise programs are available to community-dwelling Canadians aged 50+ through diverse organizational models that vary in how they meet criteria to effectively prevent falls. Context, the unique combination of characteristics and circumstances in which a program is embedded, is essential for understanding program delivery and guiding adaptation. Our objective is to describe and compare the implementation contexts of four Canadian community fall prevention group exercise programs. Methods: Data gathered from each program included organizational documents, key

Introduction Most hip fractures follow a fall. NOGG guidance recommends IV zoledronate first-line post hip fracture. Following a 2023 British Isles consensus statement, zoledronate is increasingly given to patients with renal impairment. This service evaluation assessed the safety of post-hip fracture IV zoledronate given in renal impairment. Method In a retrospective cohort study of sequential hip fracture admissions over 6-months, data were extracted from electronic medical records using a standardised template, regarding acute phase reaction (APR) and acute kidney injury (AKI). APR was

Background Falls are a common presentation within frailty services and frequently coexist with multimorbidity, polypharmacy and cognitive impairment. The Elderly Care Assessment Service (ECAS) at St David’s Hospital, Cardiff, assesses patients with frailty syndromes using comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) delivered by a multidisciplinary team. Physiotherapy-led functional measures inform falls risk and rehabilitation planning; however, medication-related vulnerability, particularly anticholinergic burden, may contribute to falls risk through mechanisms not fully captured by functional

Introduction 210,000 emergency admissions were related to falls in people aged 65 and over in England 2022/2023 1. Many falls in older people are preventable. New NICE guidance NG249, highlighted the need for patient education, recommending that clinicians ‘discuss ways that people can reduce their risk of falls as well as improving their overall wellbeing, and provide information that they can take away’ 2 The Older Persons Assessment and Liaison service (OPAL) at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, provides an acute assessment service to frail older adults presenting in the emergency

Introduction: The benefits of physical activity to maintain independence into older age are well understood, but the challenge for health professionals is ensuring interventions are sustainable. The East Sussex Community Falls Team uses a multifactorial assessment with emphasis on strength and balance exercises to improve quality of life and reduce risk of falls. A considerable number of clients who had received strength and balance exercises were re-referred with falls and declining mobility within 2 years. Engagement with previously provided exercises had ceased. The aim of this quality

Introduction Previous quality improvement work in our acute frailty service has focused on improving rates of bone health assessments. Here we examine the outcomes of these assessments. Method Data on bone health assessments were collected retrospectively using electronic health records for patients admitted to Frailty Same Day Emergency Care unit (FSDEC; n=118) and Acute Senior Health Unit (ASHU; n=107) over 2 months. Data collected included whether patients had presented with a fall, had a bone health assessment completed, and the outcome of any assessment. Results 50% of patients seen in

Introduction: Stair falls frequently occur during the transition from level walking to stair descent. Laboratory research indicates that the demands of transition steps are different to continuous descent, yet these findings have not been confirmed in home environments where most falls occur. Using instrumented insoles in naturalistic experimental homes, this early-translational study quantified biomechanical differences between transitional and continuous descent and explored the influence of lighting conditions. Method: Five participants descended a 14-step staircase in an experimental home

Introduction Falls are common high-impact problems in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), posing risks of injury, functional decline, and reduced quality of life. Although many countries have issued falls prevention guidelines for RACFs, their implementation in routine care remains challenging. We address this gap by presenting the development of a multifaceted plan aimed at supporting systematic implementation of a falls prevention guideline in RACFs. Methods The implementation plan was developed within the context of a large-scale falls prevention implementation project in Flanders

1. Introduction Falls among older people are a major public health concern, with one-third of individuals aged 65 and over experiencing at least one fall annually in the Netherlands. In 2023, a national chain approach to falls prevention was introduced to improve identification of older adults at risk of falling and reduce the incidence of fall-related injuries. The chain approach is comprised of four steps: 1) identifying older adults at risk of falling, 2) investigating individual fall risk factors, 3) participating in a falls prevention intervention, and 4) continuing regular physical

Introduction: Virtual wards have been increasingly implemented across the NHS to manage older people living with frailty in their own homes amid rising inpatient pressures. As this care model expands, it’s essential to determine whether virtual wards yield outcomes comparable to those of traditional inpatient care. This review aims to assess the success of virtual wards across key outcome domains. Methods: A literature review of ten studies published between 2014 and 2025 was conducted using electronic databases with relevant keywords. Studies examined multiple aspects of virtual wards

Introduction Free-living gait assessment for fall risk in Parkinson’s disease (PD) often uses inertial measurement units (IMUs) to extract gait characteristics. However, IMU-only approaches lack environmental and behavioural context, which can lead to inflated estimates of fall risk when gait changes are driven by extrinsic factors e.g., obstacles. We combine IMUs with wearable eye-tracking video glasses and AI-based computer vision (CV) to enrich free-living gait assessment with environmental and gaze information, enabling a robust interpretation of fall risk. Methods Seven individuals with

Introduction: Falls are a leading cause of injury and loss of independence among older adults, with a particularly high prevalence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Indonesia. Although exercise-based fall prevention programmes are effective globally, few have been contextually adapted or tested in LMIC settings. This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of a contextually adapted fall prevention exercise programme incorporating behaviour change support for community-dwelling older adults in Indonesia. Method: A two-arm feasibility randomised controlled

Background: Turning difficulties are a disabling motor symptom in Parkinson’s disease (PD), often contributing to falls and reduced mobility. Despite their clinical significance, turning problems remain challenging to manage, with current interventions offering limited and inconsistent benefits. Pharmacological treatments rarely address complex gait impairments such as turning, while rehabilitation strategies - physiotherapy and cueing - show promise but vary widely in application and effectiveness. Understanding how these approaches are perceived and implemented in practice is essential for

Background: Frail patients are at risk of post-operative orthostatic hypotension. Measuring lying and standing blood pressure (LSBP) is a key part of comprehensive post-operative geriatric assessment. Method: Three cycles of data were collected from the National Hip Fracture Database on patients with neck of femur fractures at Leeds General Infirmary. Each cycle was discussed at local governance meetings, followed by implementation of novel interventions. First, information on LSBP was added to online induction resources. Then, a poster was distributed, and finally, an email template was