Decreased falls result from staff innovation
Specialty Care Mississauga promotes Residents First bottom-up approach
Thursday August 26, 2010 -- Camille Jensen
A unique falls-prevention measure introduced at Specialty Care Mississauga Road has resulted in a decrease in falls by one-third in one month.

The innovation developed by staff members is a product of the home’s participation in the Residents First initiative, says Specialty Care Mississauga administrator Gayle Stuart.

Having joined in February, she says the provincial initiative to provide customized training in quality improvement encourages homes to utilize their front-line staff in coming up with quality improvements for key areas such as falls reduction, continence and pressure ulcers.

The home chose falls prevention recognizing the positive impact it could have for residents.

“Our numbers were low, but we found that (falls prevention) is a pretty high-risk area for residents,” she says.

“If we could figure out why residents were falling it would increase their quality of life and the residents’ experience would be that much more positive.”

The team came up with the idea for a falls-prevention cart full of items such as non-skid socks, matting and mobile alarms proven successful in limiting residents falls in the past.

When assessing a resident identified as being at high risk for falls, staff members can now draw on elements from the cart and discover what works best for a particular resident.

More items will be added to the cart as staff members find new approaches that are proving successful.

“You build up this whole inventory of things (and) changes in processes,” explains Stuart. “It’s a really cool initiative that’s really helped.”

The introduction of the cart, in combination with fall risk assessments and other tools that includes support from Residents First, has enabled the home to reduce their fall rate from 9.9 per cent to two per cent in six months.

The successful program was showcased to Ontario Long Term Care Association CEO Christina Bisanz Aug. 18.

Bisanz, who is touring member homes to shine a spotlight on their initiatives says “this is another example of how the long-term care sector is demonstrating its commitment to, and expertise in, meeting the changing needs of aging residents.”

She adds that Specialty Care Mississauga Road is demonstrating the value of Residents First as a leading-edge initiative that providing homes with tools and support to positively impact resident outcomes.

Stuart agrees, saying that by engaging staff members in quality improvement, the home is meeting residents and staff’s needs.

“When (staff) feel that they have made an impact on a resident in a positive way they are more likely to be happy at work, and in my experience, more likely to stay in the same position.”

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