Return on Investment with Fall Prevention Essay

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There are two important things to remember when it comes to the health issues of older adults. First, older and senior adults account for the lion's share of healthcare problems and costs as compared to the younger groups. This makes sense as the body is aging and/or shutting down not to mention that the bad habits (if any) of a person in their younger years truly start to take hold and render their effects once a person reaches their 50's, if not before. Second, there are common sense and evidence-based ways to handle these issues and help improve healthcare outcomes. Rather than try to "reinvent the wheel" and/or go with unproven methods in general, it is generally better to go with what is known to be effective based on past research and initiatives. While the older groups of Americans will always have more health problems than the younger ones, there are ways to stem the tide and limit the drags on quality of life and health in general.



Analysis



The root and biggest part of this assignment is to seek out a program that is encouraged or administered by a group that is known as the National Council on Aging, or NCOA. For the program that is selected for this report, there will be a description of the program, what specific intervention is being administered, the problem that exists and that is being addressed, the evidence that the problem is genuine, the proof that the program works and how evaluation is done to verify the same. With all of this said, the program that will be covered and centered on in this report is the prevention of falls. While there are certainly other health issues and problems such as heart disease, diabetes and COPD, falls are also very nasty and can lead to broken bones or even death. Further, the amount of senior that fall and that sustain injuries from the same is alarmingly high. Given all of that, there is a ton of incentive to help prevent or at least mitigate the number of falls through things like layout of rooms, self-assistance devices and so forth (NCOA, 2016).



With the above in mind, the NCOA released a program in 2015 called the National Falls Prevention Action Program. The NCOA website about the program echoes what is noted generally above. Indeed, they note that one in three of all American over the age of 65 fall every year. Beyond that, about 25,000 people die after a fall. The amount of non-fatal falls is rather high itself, coming in at about 2.

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5 million falls per year. The last of those figures is based on emergency room data collected from hospitals around the country. As for the intervention that is suggested and is being employed by the program, there are a few important facets that they have put forth. Some are tangible action steps and education for seniors while some are based more on advocacy and getting the message out via other means. Among the interventions and actions endorsed and put in motion by the NCOA are physical mobility enhancement, proper medication management (e.g. for arthritis, pain, etc.), home safety measures, environmental safety in the community, funding/reimbursement arrangements, expansion of evidence-based fall prevention programs, public awareness and education and public policy and advocacy (NCOA, 2016).



As for very specific interventions that the NCOA advocates in terms of preventing falls, they suggest finding a good balance and exercise program, talking regularly to a healthcare provider, reviewing current medications with a doctor or pharmacist, keeping one's home safe, talking to family members and checking vision/hearing so as to make sure that hazards and challenges are both visible and hearable as they should be (NCOA, 2016). The amount of money that results from falls is rathe significant. As of 2013, the total medical bills relating to falls were $34 billion and more than three fourths of that was paid by Medicare. Beyond that, even when falls do not end up in injury, there is increased fear of falling, more physical decline, depression and social isolation. This can rack up even more medical costs as well as human and quality of life costs. Even if those amounts are hard to quantify and measure, they are most certainly real. As for results from the programs that the NCOA offers, they have absolutely been good and have been measured to prove that the programs work (NCOA, 2016).



For example, one subset of the NCOA's body of work is the A Matter of Balance program. The results of that program found that 97% feel more comfortable with talking about their fear of falling, 99% of the people in the program plan to continue exercising and each person saved about $938 USD a year when it came to unplanned Medicare-related costs. Similarly, there is a program….....

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References


NCOA. "Infographic: 6 Steps To Prevent A Fall." NCOA, 2016, https://www.ncoa.org/healthy-aging/falls-prevention/preventing-falls-tips-for-older-adults-and-caregivers/take-control-of-your-health-6-steps-to-prevent-a-fall/.

NCOA. "Measuring Impact Of Falls Prevention Programs - NCOA." NCOA, 2016, https://www.ncoa.org/resources/toolkit-evaluation-guidelines-to-measure-the-impact-of-state-and-local-coalitions-on-fall-prevention/.

NCOA. "National Council On Aging (NCOA)."NCOA, 2016, https://www.ncoa.org/.

NCOA. "NCOA Provides Nationwide Blueprint For Preventing Falls - NCOA." NCOA, 2016, https://www.ncoa.org/news/press-releases/falls-action-plan/.

NCOA. "Value Of Evidenced-Based Falls Prevention - NCOA." NCOA, 2016, https://www.ncoa.org/resources/falls-prevention-programs-saving-lives-saving-money-infographic-3/

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