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Screen All Older Adults

You can help to reduce falls among older adults.  Screening is the first step in detecting those at risk and reducing falls and the major injuries that can result from falling.  Screening older adults is easy and manageable to do, just by asking the right questions.

Professionals and volunteers should ask the following three questions of any older adult on a regular basis.  These three questions have been found to have strong value in predicting falls.

• Have you fallen in the past year?
• How many times have you fallen in the past year?
• Are you afraid of falling?

When you complete the screening, here are your next steps:

Response	Action
No falls	No further assessment or referral is needed. Encourage older adult to exercise daily. Encourage older adult to take action and prevent a fall
Yes - Single fall	Recommend visit to primary care provider for falls assessment and treatment of risk factors. Primary care provider will assess for gait and/or balance problems. The Timed Get Up and Go can be used to identify gait and/or balance problems. Older adults who demonstrate no difficultly or unsteadiness need no further assessment. Those who have difficulty or unsteadiness require further assessment. Encourage older adult to take action and prevent a fall
Yes - Multiple falls and/or Impairment of gait and/or balance	Recommend visit to primary care provider for falls assessment and treatment of risk factors. Assessment should be performed by professional with appropriate skills and experience. Encourage older adult to take action and prevent a fall
Yes - Fear of falling	Recommend visit to primary care provider to discuss fear of falling. Encourage older adult to take action and prevent a fall

Older adults who have had one or more falls, or have impairment of gait and/or balance should undergo a multifactorial assessment.

The information provided on this page is based upon the guidelines set forth by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Panel on Falls in Older Persons.

For helpful tips on communicating with older adults, view the National Institute on Aging's Working with Your Older Patient Handbook.

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