Mitigating Falls in Elderly Patients in Acute Care Facilities

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHMITIGATING FALLS IN ELDERLY PATIENTS IN ACUTE CARE FACILITIES
By NameGrand Canyon UniversityNRS 441V: Professional CapstoneInstructor:Date
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Abstract
The population of old people aged above 65 years of is increasing worldwide, with China posting 2.8 million elder people in its entire population. This population faces an increasing threat in falls attributed to visual problems, chronic diseases, inadequate lighting, unsafe footpaths, and foot wares, and prescribed drugs (Bell et.al, 2015). The prevalence to falls among this group results in body injuries and fatal experiences that elongates their hospital stays and causes immense liability to hospitals. This also results patients developing additional complications, which increases medical costs. The susceptibility to falls among the elder population depends on the mobility, balance, and the leg strength. Therefore, the best approach towards solving this problem requires addressing the mentioned issues. Huang et al. (2012), suggests using a community based multifaceted approach, whereby the family and physicians shall aid the patients in normal daily routines to reduce prevalence of falls. The plan entails setting up safety standards and procedures such as patient education, using walking aids and patient response mechanism among others. Data on falls prevalence from patients shall be requisite d...