The effect of tailored patient multimedia education on older patient's engagement in falls prevention strategies after hospital discharge.

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Older people who have just been discharged from hospital are high risk of falls and injuries such as hip fracture and are also at risk of medical complications and unplanned readmissions to hospital. Health workers have identified that better health care is urgently required for these patients. We recently conducted a large trial that identified that providing patient education reduced falls in hospital by over half in older patients with normal cognition. Therefore the aim of this research is to examine whether providing a similar patient education program for older people just before they are discharged from hospital can also reduce falls at home. This study will test the design of the discharge education. If the education successfully improves older peoples’ ability to engage in falls prevention behaviours after discharge, the researchers plan to test the education in a larger trial to directly examine its effect on falls and falls injuries. The research aims are: Evaluate the effect of providing a tailored multimedia falls prevention education program delivered by a health professional in hospital prior to discharge and in addition to usual care, on older patients’ levels of engagement in falls prevention strategies in the first month after hospital discharge.