Safety & quality

Fall and fall injury prevention

Falls and falls related injuries continue to be an important issue for many older people. The positive news is that both community members and health care professionals can do more to prevent these injuries.

The SA Health Falls Prevention Program aims to enhance the independence and wellbeing of older South Australians through reducing preventable fall-related harm. The program's vision is to reduce the incidence of these injuries among older South Australians.

Policy Directive, Guideline and Toolkit

The SA Health Policy Directive, Guideline and Toolkit was released in March 2011.

SA Health recognises that systematic and proactive risk identification and management is required in order to reduce risk of falling and sustaining harm from falls for consumers in the health service environment.

National guidelines

The national guidelines are designed to inform clinical practice and assist hospitals, residential aged care facilities and community care providers develop and implement practices that reduce the falls experienced by those receiving care and the harm sustained from falls.

Committees and reports

SA Health Falls and Fall Injury Prevention program has committees and reports that provide guidance to the SA Health Safety and Quality Committee.

Training

Falls and Falls Injury Prevention team provides Falls Prevention training program and workshops developed in order to enhance knowledge, skills and competencies in Falls Prevention.

Professional development workshops are organised on a regular basis to promote education and training.

Information for consumers

The Falls and Fall Injury Prevention team provides consumers and the community with information resources to assist in reducing falls in older people within South Australia.