The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes recently awarded $665,000 to Washington University to study fall prevention among seniors living in St. Andrew’s affordable senior housing system. WUSTL received the grant from HUD’s Healthy Homes Technical Studies Grant Program to translate fall-prevention research into removing home hazards.
Susy Stark, assistant professor of Occupational Therapy Neurology and Social Work at WUSTL School of Medicine, said they want to reach every St. Andrews resident in each of its buildings, estimated at 600 seniors, by the end of the three-year study.
“We do a screening to see if people are at risk for falling,” Stark said. “We’ll test their balance, for example, and ask them questions about things like how many medications they take and then based on those responses, if they are at high risk for fall – which we expect two-thirds of the folks we test will be – then we will provide home safety interventions.”
They will study the effect of the intervention in a real-world setting and the implementation strategy, its cost effectiveness and success in reducing the rate and risk of falls.
Fall-prevention interventions will be tailored to the needs of each resident. Stark said whatever a person needs is what they will provide.
“It could be things like night lights that come on automatically when a person gets up to use the restroom at night; it could be a grab bar by the toilet so that can be steady when they get off the toilet; it could be something as easy as making sure the carpeting or the throw rugs are secured to the floor so they don’t slip when somebody is walking,” Stark said.
“But a lot of times, it’s teaching these older adults what the risks might be in their home so they can make better choices and not put themselves at risk for falling.”
The researchers want to do everything they can to make sure residents do not fall. However, should an older adult find themselves heading for the floor unexpectedly, Stark said, they will teach them how to respond.
“We also teach older adults how to get up safely if they do fall,” Starks said, “and some techniques on how to ask and call for help – things like using their cane, perhaps, to pound on a wall instead of their voice, if they are not being heard, so they can be rescued.”
Researchers will train the facility staff, offer treatment to everyone and compare the results.
“We’ll compare the people in building B to building A to see if there is any difference – that will be the research design – but, eventually, everyone after three years will get the treatment,” Starks said.
The WUSTL grant came in a package of $4.2 million in grants to eight universities and public health organizations, intended to develop new and improved methods to identify and control residential health hazards, including lead-based paint, mold, radon and pest infestations.
HUD says these grants are particularly important to protect vulnerable populations, such as children, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses such as asthma, from exposure to these hazards. Other HUD healthy homes grants awarded to locations in Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
“It’s critical that we continue supporting evidence-based methods that make our homes healthier places to live,” said Matt Ammon, director of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. “We know that poor quality housing can contribute to injury and illness, which is entirely preventable.”
For more information on St. Andrew’s Senior Systems, visit http://www.standrews1.com.
