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Related Information

Since 2007, the B.C. government has proclaimed the first week in November as the annual Seniors’ Fall Prevention Awareness Week in British Columbia. The week raises awareness and education around the prevention of falls and injuries among older adults, and encourages leadership and collaboration among health authorities across the province.

More Information

For additional fall prevention information, please visit:

    Questions?

    If you have any questions, please email: fallprevention@gov.bc.ca

    Resources to Learn More

    Fall Prevention Pamphlets, Brochures, and Booklets

    Brochure provides a fall risk assessment tool to rate a person’s risk for a fall.

    Contains tips for seniors on avoiding falls at home and away from home. This brochure is also available in:

    Outlines four things you can do to prevent falls - including regular exercise, having a medication review and vision check-up, and going through a home safety check list.
    This brochure is also available in:

    Outlines how to be active, take your time, live safe and choose smart to reduce your chances of having a fall, to continue the activities you love, and to “stay in the game”.

    Also available in:

    This booklet will help identify some causes of falls and suggest simple, practical changes and better choices you can make to remain active, independent and stay on your feet.
    Also available in:

    This information provides helpful advice to people with Parkinson’s, their families and caregivers.

    Outlines tips to prevent slips, trips & broken hips.

    A guide to identify and reduce fall risk.

    A guide to preventing falls and related injuries while in hospital.

    Outlines hip protectors and their use for reducing the risk of a hip fracture.

    Outlines examples of medications that can increase the risk of falling, or of serious outcomes if a fall occurs.

    Provides a fall-related pre-admission checklist if you or a loved one are waiting to move to a Residential Care Facility, and top 10 tips for reducing your risks of falling or being injured from a fall.

    Research and Reports on Falls and Fall Prevention

    Falls & Related Injuries among Older Canadians: Fall-related hospitalizations & prevention initiatives

    Prepared for the Division of Aging and Seniors, Public Health Agency of Canada, this is an analysis of the 2008/2009 Canadian hospitalization data for fall-related injuries among persons aged 65 years and older. The analysis is followed by the results of a scan of fall prevention programs currently operating across Canada. The appendices to this document include a list of definitions of terms, the survey tool used in the scan of programs, and the Canadian Institute for Health Information epidemiological data.

    Healthy Aging Through Fall Prevention Among Older Aboriginal People: From Many Voices To A Shared Vision

    Prepared in partnership with Centre for Aboriginal Health Research, the Centre of Excellence on Mobility, Fall Prevention and Injury in Aging, the B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit and the Ministry of Health, this report summarizes a ‘first of its kind’ symposium to guide future steps for improving the health of older Aboriginal people through the reduction of risk for falls and related injuries.

    Fall Prevention Guidelines, Training and Tools

    Falls and Related Injuries in Residential Care: A Framework & Toolkit for Prevention

    This is a report to facilitate the translation of fall prevention evidence into practice in Residential Care settings through the presentation of a Public Health Framework to fall prevention. A Public Health Framework is evidence–based, relying on a careful analysis of the problem and its causes in order to develop practical and effective solutions that are integrated into routine care. It is a staged approach, consisting five program planning steps that build upon each other in a dynamic process and that exist within a social and policy context that is influenced by the seniors who are at risk, their families and care providers, and by current policies and legislation. The report and toolkit are supported by Accreditation Canada.


    Strategies and Actions for Independent Living (SAIL)

    The goals of the SAIL program are to promote the independence and quality of life for home support service clients by reducing their risk of falling and sustaining an injury and to integrate a comprehensive approach to fall prevention into regular practice. This program is coordinated through the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit (BCIRPU) and consists of multi-factorial interventions that are targeted towards seniors who are in need of on-going home support but are not yet in need of institutionalized care. The core elements of the SAIL program are: a falls prevention training program for community health workers (CHW) and home health professionals (HHP), a falls monitoring and reporting system, the implementation of a client-centered risk assessment and prevention tool, and protocols for identifying and addressing those determined to be at high risk for falls.

    Primary Care Fall Prevention Multimedia Package

    The Fall Prevention Multimedia Package includes a video as well as written resources aimed at engaging both seniors and their doctors. The video highlights some of the ways to reduce fall risks, common health conditions related to falls and practical assessment tools. The resources offer safe and easy-to-follow exercises, recommendations for good sleep habits and ways to make a senior’s home safer to reduce falls.

    Resources are available from the General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) through:

    Promoting Active Living (PAL): Best Practice Guidelines for Prevention of Falls among Residents of Assisted Living

    This is an evidence-based, practical tool designed to ensure older populations continue to have the best possible quality of life, free of falls. These guidelines are designed to assist staff and residents of assisted living residences to identify and reduce falls and related risk factors.

    Canadian Falls Prevention Curriculum (CFPC)

    In partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, the provincial government is contributing to the development and implementation of the Canadian Falls Prevention Curriculum in B.C. and across Canada. The Curriculum is available in both English and French and is targeted towards health care professionals, community support providers, and policy and program personnel who wish to design, implement and evaluate evidence-based fall prevention programs tailored to their work or community settings. The face-to-face version of the course has been available since November 2007, and has been offered in both English and French over 50 times to approximately 1,000 participants across Canada. Dissemination of the CFPC has been managed by the BCIRPU in collaboration with the Canadian Fall Prevention Education Collaborative (CFPEC) – the first Canada-wide network to address all sectors that work on fall-related risk.

    Fall Prevention Organizations

    B.C. Falls and Injury Prevention Coalition (BCFIPC)

    The B.C. Falls and Injury Prevention Coalition (BCFIPC) is a multi-sectoral collaboration of representatives from regional/provincial organizations, academic institutions, professional associations and community agencies who are concerned with the need to reduce the rate, frequency and severity of falls among older persons in British Columbia. The coalition is comprised of regional health representatives, policy makers, researchers, physicians, managers of provincial and regional falls and injury prevention initiatives, falls prevention project coordinators, geriatric care coordinators, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nursing consultants and other organizations representing older persons in B.C.

    More Helpful Resources

    B.C. Information

    National Information

    International Information

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    Europe/UK: