Factors influencing fall prevention for patients with spinal cord injury from the perspectives of administrators in Canadian rehabilitation hospitals

• Main Authors: H. Singh (Author), B. C. Craven (Author), H. M. Flett (Author), C. Kerry (Author), S. B. Jaglal (Author), M. P. Silver (Author), K. E. Musselman (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Abstract Background Fall prevention is a priority in Canadian tertiary rehabilitation hospitals. We aimed to understand the perspectives of hospital administrators on the challenges experienced when implementing fall prevention policies/procedures for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) in tertiary rehabilitation hospitals. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 administrators employed in six Canadian tertiary rehabilitation hospitals. Guided by an interpretive description framework, interviews were analyzed using a constant comparison approach. Results Challenges with fall prevention experienced by administrators fell into the three categories: 1) fall prevention policy and procedural challenges (e.g. fall prevention policy not SCI-specific, expectation of zero falls, determining contributing factors, learning from falls, and overall effectiveness of the fall prevention policy), 2) clinician-related challenges (e.g. variable staff adherence with the organizations' fall prevention procedures, inconsistent delivery of fall prevention education, and integrating individualized fall risks to guide clinical practice), and 3) patient-related challenges (e.g. balancing risk vs independence and rehabilitation progress, responsibility for fall prevention, and non-preventable falls). Conclusions Fall prevention policies/procedures required by the hospitals were insufficient for clinical practice in SCI rehabilitation.

Item Description

10.1186/s12913-019-4233-8
1472-6963