AUSTRALIAN GREEK WELFARE SOCIETY FALLS PREVENTION RESOURCE KIT FOR GREEK COMMUNITY GROUPS IN AUSTRALIA

Transcription

1 AUSTRALIAN GREEK WELFARE SOCIETY FALLS PREVENTION RESOURCE KIT FOR GREEK COMMUNITY GROUPS IN AUSTRALIA A RESOURCE KIT DEVELOPED FOR GREEK COMMUNITY GROUPS IN AUSTRALIA TO MAINTAIN FALLS SAFE MEETING PLACES AND COMMUNITY BUILDINGS This project was funded by

2 7 Union Street Brunswick VIC 3056 Melbourne, Australia Tel: (03) Fax: (03) First Published 2005 Copyright COPYRIGHT This resource kit is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism or review, or as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this resource kit may be reproduced by any process without permission. Copyright owners may take legal action against a person or organisation who infringes on their copyright through unauthorised copying. Enquiries should be directed to the Australian Greek Welfare Society. ACN

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. FALLS AND OLDER PEOPLE 2.1. The Prevalence of Falls within the Australian-Greek Community 3. ABOUT THE RESOURCE KIT 3.1. What is the purpose of this Resource Kit? 3.2. Who will benefit from this Resource Kit? 4. DEVELOPING A FALLS PREVENTION PLAN 4.1. Why do we need a Falls Prevention Plan? 4.2. What do we include in a Falls Prevention Plan? 4.3. How do we begin developing a Falls Prevention Plan for our Organisation? 4.4. Who will be responsible for the implementation of the Falls Prevention Plan 4.5. What is the role of the Falls Prevention Officer? 5. FALLS PREVENTION PLAN CHECKLIST 6. ATTACHMENTS: 6.1. Your Building Safety Checklist (Greek Version) 6.2. Your Building Safety Checklist (English Version) 6.3. Your Home Safety Checklist (Greek Version) 6.4. Fact Sheets on Falls Prevention: Step by Step Falls Prevention: Your Body and Exercise Step by Step Falls Prevention: Medications and Walking Aids Step by Step Falls Prevention: Health and Nutrition Step by Step Falls Prevention: The Environment Inside and Outside the home Step by Step Falls Prevention: Lighting and Vision Step by Step Falls Prevention: Fear and Diagnosis 6.5. How to Avoid and Prevent Falls: Presentation (Greek Version) 6.6. Safety Signs

4 1. INTRODUCTION In the Federal Budget, the Australian Government committed funds over four years to continue the National Falls Prevention for Older People Initiative (the Initiative). The Initiative aims to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality associated with falls in people aged 65 years and over in community, acute and residential care settings. The Draft National Falls Prevention Plan for Older People aims to include individuals and agencies representative of rural/remote communities, indigenous communities and culturally and linguistically diverse communities in partnership to plan services and falls prevention initiatives for older people. One of the key principles of the Draft National Injury Prevention Plan: 2004 onwards is the commitment to equity of access. Planning and delivery of injury prevention activity will aim to reduce inequalities in injury outcomes within and between groups, by attending to creating equity of access to information, services and products to those groups at greatest risk of injury. Fall injury contributes to a significant proportion of the burden in Australia, contributing in 2001 to an estimated cost of $498.2 million to the overall health costs (Moller, 2003). The prevention of fall injury is therefore a key intention in the Draft National Injury Prevention Plan: 2004 onwards. In April 2005, the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) commenced the Falls Prevention Project for the Greek Community in Australia from funding provided by the Department of Health and Ageing under the Initiative. In its efforts to raise the awareness of the National Falls Prevention for Older People Initiative within the Greek speaking community, AGWS is currently working in partnership with Greek community organisations and Greek media groups in all Australian States and Territories. Through this collaborative approach AGWS is delivering seminars and workshops in the Greek language to the Greek speaking people aged over 65 years in Australia s Capital cities.

5 Furthermore, by targeting Greek speaking communities across Australia, AGWS is providing them with greater access to information and data that will assist them in their efforts to better plan and implement falls prevention strategies both at home, meeting places and within the general community. The Greek speaking community is also being provided with the skills and knowledge to develop, implement and evaluate falls prevention strategies. This is being achieved primarily by: Assisting Greek community organisations to develop fall prevention plans for their meeting places and ensure that all of their buildings are Fall Safe. Educating community leaders on the importance of developing, implementing and evaluating falls prevention strategies and sharing this information with other members of their group by organising specific courses on falls prevention. Developing and distributing appropriate resource materials in the Greek language to the Greek community. Workshop participants from Melbourne identifying some potential hazards at home. Completing a workshop questionnaire in order to determine if they are wearing falls safe shoes. Members of the Adelaide Reference Group during one of their meetings. The Nightcliff Greek Senior Citizens Group with Darwin s Reference Group members.

6 2. FALLS AND OLDER PEOPLE The prevalence of falls within the general community is a significant issue when you consider that one in three people over 65 will fall at some stage of their lives and that 60% of falls occur in people s homes while the risks of falling also increase with age. Many of the people in this age category often have multiple falls and at least one third require some medical attention. 2.1 The Prevalence of Falls within the Australian-Greek Community: The Australian-Greek community is ageing at a significantly faster rate than that of the general population. As a result, the number of health and other related issues that are confronting the community are steadily increasing at a faster rate than that of the general population. Therefore, the prevalence of falls is also fast becoming a major issue of concern for the community and its rate of incidence, will increase rapidly over the next years. There are a number of reasons as to why falls are a significant issue for the Australian-Greek community. These can be highlighted by the following examples: chronic health conditions (diabetes, heart disease etc) inappropriate use of medication or lack of medication reviews lack of physical activity or exercise poor eyesight or eye disorders inappropriate or unsafe footwear clutter or other hazards in and around the home poor balance and changing walking patterns The lack of proficiency in the English language is a major contributing factor to the prevalence of falls within the Australian-Greek community as it limits their opportunities to access appropriate information that will assist them in developing falls prevention strategies, especially within their own homes.

7 Based on the 2001 Census data, 46.3% (26,756 people) of the Greeceborn population of Victoria was aged over 60 years whilst over 75% of the Greece-born population is aged over 45 years and with significantly low levels of proficiency in the English language a strong characteristic of this group as 33.7% rated their English proficiency as too Poor to conduct conversation. The lack of physical activity or exercise is another contributing factor to falls that needs to be highlighted as cultural and linguistic factors are currently preventing many Greek speaking people from participating in organised physical activity programs. Physical activity improves ones health, muscle strength, bone strength and improves balance and co-ordination. For this reason, an effective campaign dealing with falls prevention strategies will need to include efforts to increase the participation levels in organised physical activities for the Greek community. Physical activity improves ones health, muscle strength, bone strength and improves balance and co-ordination

8 3. ABOUT THE RESOURCE KIT 3.1 What is the purpose of this Resource Kit? This resource kit is targeted for use by key Greek community groups. Its primary purpose is to assist Greek community groups in developing an enhanced awareness of the issues surrounding Falls Prevention and provide them with information on how to develop falls prevention plans for their meeting places and community buildings across Australia. In particular, the resource kit will assist Greek community groups in ensuring that their buildings are Falls Safe through the utilisation of appropriate assessment tools and checklists. Furthermore, each Greek community group will be encouraged to develop a falls prevention plan for their building. This process in itself will assist Greek community groups to develop a better understanding of the issues relating to falls prevention and the need for an active approach in dealing with these issues. 3.2 Who will benefit from this Resource Kit? Through the utilisation of the material in this resource kit, Greek community groups will be able to develop a Falls Prevention Plan that will assist them in their efforts to make their buildings and meeting places falls safe. As a result, members of the Greek community who utilise the facility, will continue to do so with the knowledge that steps are being taken towards making it safer. In addition, the resource kit will contain information and other materials on falls prevention that can be distributed to their members. In particular, a home safety checklist that members can use to make their home a falls safe environment.

9 4. DEVELOPING A FALLS PREVENTION PLAN 4.1 Why do we need a Falls Prevention Plan? The development of a Falls Prevention Plan (FPP) whether it is at home or in places where people meet, is an integral part of any process that aims to make a place falls safe. Every community group or organisation needs to understand that a FPP will assist them in their efforts to ensure that they are taking every necessary step and precaution towards making the building or meeting place safe from falls. Furthermore, a FPP will also allow for each community group or organisation to specifically target their own individual needs. Each building is different and as such some things may not be universally relevant. For this reason, it is important that each community group or organisation develops a FPP that addresses the specific needs of their building and the needs of their members. 4.2 What do we include in a Falls Prevention Plan? The FPP will need to include information that can be used to develop a falls safe environment. This information can be highlighted but not limited to the following items: checklists to assist in determining whether your building is falls safe assessment tools that can be used by group members to assist them with falls safety within their own homes availability of information and resources on falls prevention development of other falls prevention strategies that can assist members (eg. exercise groups walking, dancing) An effective FPP should also ensure that checklists and assessments tools are used on an ongoing basis. It is therefore imperative that each FPP should be accompanied with specific timelines for ongoing follow-up and monitoring.

10 4.3 How do we begin developing a Falls Prevention Plan for our Organisation? The most important aspect of developing of a FPP is that it needs to be adopted in a formalised manner under the duties and responsibilities of the management committee. This will ensure that the FPP becomes an integral part of the organisations operational structure as well as ensuring that it will be maintained regardless of other changes that may take place within the organisation. An example here would be when there are changes to the management committee as a result of elections. Regardless of the outcome, the FPP will be undertaken by the new management committee as one of their areas of responsibility. 4.4 Who will be responsible for the implementation of the Falls Prevention Plan? In order to facilitate the implementation of the FPP, the management committee will need to identify someone who will have to fulfil the duties of a Falls Prevention Officer and ensure that all aspects of the FPP are implemented on an ongoing basis. 4.5 What is the role of the Falls Prevention Officer? In addition, the management committee will need to identify someone who will have to fulfil the duties of the Falls Prevention Officer and ensure that all aspects of the FPP are implemented. More specifically, the Falls Prevention Officer will be responsible for the implementation of the following tasks: Complete an initial assessment of the premises; Facilitate the implementation of any items that need to be Actioned as a result of the initial assessment; Conduct period assessments of the premises (every 6 months) Promote falls prevention strategies to their members through the distribution of resource materials; Ensure that where appropriate, the falls prevention message is visible within their premises and other opportunities (eg. noticeboards, key areas and via information in newsletters)

11 5. FALLS PREVENTION PLAN CHECKLIST The following checklist can assist you with the development of your falls prevention plan by ensuring that you have included relevant items or have completed the certain tasks: CHECKLIST TICK 1. Adopt your falls prevention plan in a formalised manner under the duties and responsibilities of the management committee; 2. Identify someone who will have to fulfil the duties of a Falls Prevention Officer from within your management committee or your organisation; 3. Complete the initial assessment of your building, using the Building Safety Checklist that is included in this Resource Kit ; 4. Action any items that have been identified as needing attention by the initial assessment process using the suggestions in the Building Safety Checklist as a guide; 5. Provide a copy of the Home Safety Checklist that is included in this Resource Kit to each of your members; 6. Provide copies of the attached fact sheets on falls prevention that are included in this Resource Kit to your members; 7. Determine a date for when you will next assess your building as part the ongoing monitoring process (you may wish to assess once every 3 or 6 months); Completed by: Signed: Date: / /