Working collaboratively with fear of falling on inpatient wards

Fear of falling (FoF), defined as a lasting worry about falling that leads to the avoidance of activities, affects around 50% of older adults in the community. FoF is increasingly prevalent in inpatient settings. It is recommended that falls prevention should adopt a multifactorial approach, including addressing psychological factors such as FoF. A training package was therefore developed to share psychological knowledge and strategies across older adult wards. Seven physiotherapists attended the one-hour training slot and completed Likert-scale ratings of their knowledge and confidence in working with people with FoF before and after the session. All physiotherapists demonstrated an improvement in both their knowledge of FoF and confidence in working with FoF after the session, suggesting that the training was helpful and effective in sharing psychological knowledge and strategies. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.