Researchers will lead a new collaborative project to prevent falls in the community after receiving a $800,000 grant.

NeuRA Senior Principal Research Scientist, Director of the Innovation and Translation at the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, and Professor at UNSW Sydney, Professor Kim Delbaere, will jointly lead the project with Professor Cathie Sherrington from the University of Sydney.

The ​“Engaging communities to prevent falls: a collaborative pre- and post- hospital support initiative” was funded under the Ramsay Hospitals Research Foundation Social Determinants of Health Innovation Grant 2024.

“This project aims to create a scalable fall prevention model that can be rolled out nationwide,” Prof Delbaere said.

“Success will be defined by reducing falls and related hospital readmissions and improving patient safety and quality of life of older adults after hospitalisation.”

The project will focus on people over 60 years of age and will build on work that has already been done to reduce falls.. It will take a community-focused approach involving Ramsay Health Care, Rotary, older adults with lived experience, pharmacists, digital health experts, policy makers and world-leading academics in falls prevention.

“We’ll be undertaking consultation on strategies to ensure they address real-world needs and the proposed strategies will be tested in a randomised controlled trial to evaluate their effectiveness,” Prof Delbaere said.

“In addition to reduction in falls and fall-related injuries, we’re hoping to improve people’s health literacy around falls prevention, reduce hospital readmissions and enhance care coordination.”