The South West Aboriginal Medical Service was successful in receiving a Move Your Body grant in 2019 to implement the Barang Koorliny (Get Moving) falls prevention program for Aboriginal people aged 45 years and over in Bunbury and the greater Bunbury area.

Through partnerships with local health professionals, the project consisted of two participant focused workshops that educated attendees about how they can address common risk factors relating to falls as well as providing an opportunity to participate in group strength and balance exercises.

To encourage participants to complete strength and balance activities outside of Barang Koorliny, each participant was provided with a booklet containing a weekly schedule of suitable and accessible exercise sessions in the local area and a personalised home exercise program.

A total of 18 participants took part in the Barang Koorliny program across the two workshops, with most participants reporting an increase in falls prevention knowledge. The spirit of friendship and cooperation was the underlying theme of Barang Koorliny and program participants enjoyed the group dynamic as well as valuing the educational aspects and physical exercise demonstrations.

Evaluation was undertaken through video interviews with the participants by SWAMS staff as well as informally yarning with the group. Positive attitudinal changes were noted in participants, such as an increased confidence in overcoming personal barriers, trying new activities, and learning within a social group environment.

Barang Koorliny program video

The South West Aboriginal Medical Service continues to run Barang Koorliny following the Move Your Body grant period in 2019, with further educational and strength and balance sessions to get the community moving.

West Arthur Community Resource Centre was successful in receiving a Move Your Body grant in 2021 to implement the Barn Dancing to Build Better Balance program. The six-week Barn Dancing to Build Better Balance program aimed to increase balance and strength among older adult community members through weekly barn dancing sessions. Each session incorporated activities such as arm movements, single-leg stances, and twisting and turning to build balance in older adults in a fun environment.

A partnership was established between West Arthur Community Resource Centre and Williams Community Resource Centre, extending the reach and engagement of the program. In turn, 24 older adults attended Barn Dancing to Build Better Balance program sessions over the six-week period. All participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the program in relation to challenging their balance and learning new skills and information.

“The most pleasing aspect of the activity was the level of enjoyment that the participants reported from the activity and the way that they challenged themselves each week.”

Following grant completion, West Arthur Community Resource Centre planned a reunion dance to encourage participation among additional older adult community members.

The Merredin Senior Centre was successful in receiving an Improve Your Health grant in 2021. The grant enabled a program that included the following one-hour information sessions alongside the Centre’s usual Thursday morning tea for its older community members:

1. Medication management: Delivered by a Pharmacist
2. Nutrition and healthy eating: Delivered by a Health Promotion Officer
3. Stay On Your Feet® Move Improve Remove campaign: Delivered by a Health Promotion Officer

The program saw 30-45 older adult community members attend each of the three sessions, with post-session surveys indicating increased participant knowledge, understanding, and awareness of falls prevention messages. Pleasingly, 60% of participants expressed their interest in further falls prevention sessions, which has resulted in additional sessions being planned throughout the year.

Since the completion of the program, positive behaviour change has been seen throughout the older adult community in Merredin, with 50% of grant participants indicating intention to have their medications reviewed and five medication reviews conducted by the local pharmacy in the following months.

The Merredin Senior Centre also formed a key partnership with the WA Country Health Service Primary Health team in Merredin, paving the way for the delivery of future falls prevention initiatives in the community.

Canning Vale Medical Centre received an Improve Your Health grant in 2021 to implement a program for their practice patients. This program included identifying and engaging high-risk patients to see their GP for chronic disease reviews, with falls risk being assessed, and supporting the Centre’s clinical team in providing healthcare services across multiple disciplines.

The clinical team was upskilled in falls prevention through the lens of an optometrist, pharmacist, and physiotherapist. Patient brochures were created regarding falls prevention and utilised alongside Stay On Your Feet® resources. Information dissemination regarding falls prevention was conducted via the practice Facebook page, with posters also on display in the clinic.

Existing partnerships that the Canning Vale Medical Centre carried with local allied health providers and local health care professionals were strengthened throughout the course of the grant program. A total of 19 practice patients participated in the program, presenting to the centre for chronic disease review, each receiving a falls risk assessment.

Since the end of the Improve Your Health grant program, Canning Vale Medical Centre is continuing to encourage high-risk patients to see their GP for a chronic disease review and falls risk assessments. The Centre is also continuing to upskill and build the knowledge of their clinical team around falls prevention through in-house education, as well as use the resources developed in the program to continue to raise awareness of falls prevention.

The City of Albany Public Library received a Remove Hazards grant in 2022 to deliver a series of falls prevention educational sessions to older adult community members, as part of their broader ‘Active & Healthy Ageing’ throughout March and April 2022. These sessions included:

Session one: Eye Health with Optometrist Alison Steer from Alison Steer Optometrists

Session two: Balance and Stay on Your Feet® with Occupational Therapist Kate Campbell-Pope

Session three: Foot health session with Podiatrist Jasmine Law from Advanced Sports and Family Podiatry

The three sessions saw a total of 50 attendees, with a range of 15-30 attendees per session, and a positive response from attendees.

“I learnt about the need to maintain and improve my balance and how best to set up my environment and habits to reduce the risk of falls.”

Session two attendee

 

Alongside these sessions, the City of Albany Public Library also developed and distributed ‘Remove Hazard Kits’ to attendees, which contained information about local services, educational resources, and items such as contrast tape, to enable community members to make their homes safer once home.

The City of Kalamunda successfully received a Remove Hazards grant in 2020 to implement Remove Hazards falls prevention strategies among older adults over the age of 60 years in the City of Kalamunda area. The grant activities consisted of two stages; the development of a Remove Hazards resource for the City of Kalamunda residents and an environmental audit to identify and address falls-related hazards in the community.

City of Kalamunda Remove Hazards Checklist

The City of Kalamunda developed a comprehensive Remove Hazards resource for the community, incorporating the Remove Hazards campaign key messages and calls to action. The resource provided Remove Hazards information to increase knowledge and awareness of how older adult community members could make their home safer and look after their eyes and feet to reduce their risk of falls. The City of Kalamunda also ensured relevancy of the resource to their residents with a directory of local optometrists and podiatrists in the City of Kalamunda area. The Remove Hazards resource was printed and distributed to seniors health and community groups and services, and an electronic copy was also made available on the City of Kalamunda’s website.

The second part of the grant saw the City of Kalamunda develop a Remove Hazards Slips, Trips & Falls Checklist to assess and identify environmental hazards for falls in the community. The Checklist explored items such as floor surfaces, ramps, obstacles, walkways, stairs and steps, lighting, and signage. The Checklist was used to audit the Hartfield Park Recreation Centre, Kalamunda Library, Forrestfield Library, and Jack Healey Community Centre. This enabled the City of Kalamunda to identify minor falls-hazards and implement environmental changes such as the installation of non-slip mats, contrast tape to distinguish between different flooring types and steps, and the organisation of loose cords.

Contrast tape on stairs and flooring

As a home and community care provider with a large client base of over 65’s, Community Vision identified that their clients were in a higher risk category for falls. Community Vision successfully received a Remove Hazards grant in 2020 to educate and support their client base to get their eyes checked, wear safe footwear, and to use the Stay On Your Feet® Home Safety Checklist as well as build the capacity of their aged and disability home care support workers.

Community Vision partnered with a local optometrist and physiotherapist as well as welcoming Injury Matters as a Stay On Your Feet® guest speaker to deliver a series of three education sessions across their two day centres for a total of 66 of their older adult clients. The sessions provided information and resources to Community Vision clients around Remove Hazards information, in line with the Remove Hazards campaign key messages and calls to action. Stay On Your Feet® resources and a list of local optometrists and podiatrists were additionally mailed out to clients. Participants of the sessions ranged from 81 to 83 years of age and provided feedback that the sessions were valuable and increased their awareness around Remove Hazards falls prevention strategies.

Community Vision also developed a video resource for their clients in partnership with a local Optometrist. The video, Maintaining Healthy Eyes and Preventing Falls was developed and shared with Community Vision’s older adult clients to increase their knowledge around getting their eyes checked and maintaining their eye health to prevent falls.

Community Vision Eyesight Video

In addition to providing education for their clients, Community Vision encouraged their Support Workers to complete the two Stay On Your Feet eLearning modules, Introduction to Falls Prevention and Exercise Strategies and Screening for Falls Prevention to further build their capacity in implementing falls prevention strategies with their clients.