Community centers and an older adult’s social network are the key to identifying which older adults might be at risk for falls or becoming homebound. As of 2022, HOP-UP-PT is now providing community center staff, employees, and volunteers the opportunity to become a Certified HOP-UP-PT Ambassador. There is no cost to becoming a certified ambassador. Read More
An upstream approach to healthcare aims to examine and then impact the root causes of a health-related problem rather the symptoms. The approach can bring about downstream improvements in health outcomes and decrease healthcare costs. HOP-UP-PT uses this approach as the foundation of all evaluations, interventions, and programming.
The Stay Independent brochure, available as a component of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention STEADI programming, contains a Fall risk Screening questionnaire that is useful to older adults and their families, community centers, and health care providers. The 12-question screening tool is a validated fall risk self-assessment tool (Rubenstein et al. J Safety Res; Read More
Reducing falls and fall risk is best accomplished when it addresses multiple risk factors. The home environment is one critical area to consider as there are often overlooked hazards that are easy to fix. Older adults and their families should consider using The Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults. Healthcare providers may find the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) a useful tool to guide in home assessments and recommendations.
HOP-UP-PT is excited to share an open access publication which provides strong evidence for the programs impact on reducing falls and fall risk. Notably, the study identified that those with the highest fall risk when beginning the HOP-UP-PT program had an 8-fold decrease in falls compared to older adults who continued with normal activity. The randomized controlled clinical trial was funded by a 2018 Michigan Health Endowment Fund Healthy Aging Award ($201,058).