Development of a Victorian Falls and Balance Service Directory
Funding information
None.
Abstract
Objectives
Falls and fall-related injuries amongst older people continue to be a long-term public health issue. Access to specialist services that target fall prevention has been shown to improve outcomes. This project aimed to develop an online directory of public outpatient and ambulatory falls and balance clinics and programs in Victoria.
Method
Environmental scan of existing services and survey of service providers between January and August 2020.
Results
Forty-seven community-based and 53 hospital-based falls and balance services across metropolitan (46%) and regional (54%) Victoria registered. The majority of services were programs (70%) targeting exercise and/or education, as opposed to clinics (30%), which focus on diagnosis and developing management plans. Survey responses were collated to develop an online service directory: https://www.nari.net.au/victorian-falls-directory
Conclusions
The Victorian Falls and Balance Service Directory provides a centralised and accessible reference for clinicians and community members regarding available outpatient and ambulatory services that target fall prevention.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No conflicts of interest declared.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
