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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Steve Parry, Vincent Deary, Dr Tracy Finch, Claire BamfordORCiD, Neil Sabin, Dr Peter McMeekin, Professor John O'Brien, Dr Nick Steen, Claire Macdonald, Emerita Professor Elaine McCollORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Background: Around 30% to 62% of older individuals fall each year, with adverse consequences of falls being by no means limited to physical injury and escalating levels of dependence. Many older individuals suffer from a variety of adverse psychosocial difficulties related to falling including fear, anxiety, loss of confidence and subsequent increasing activity avoidance, social isolation and frailty. Such 'fear of falling' is common and disabling, but definitive studies examining the effective management of the syndrome are lacking. Cognitive behavioural therapy has been trialed with some success in a group setting, but there is no adequately powered randomised controlled study of an individually based cognitive behavioural therapy intervention, and none using non-mental health professionals to deliver the intervention.Methods/Design: We are conducting a two-phase study examining the role of individual cognitive behavioural therapy delivered by healthcare assistants in improving fear of falling in older adults. In Phase I, the intervention was developed and taught to healthcare assistants, while Phase II is the pragmatic randomised controlled study examining the efficacy of the intervention in improving fear of falling in community-dwelling elders attending falls services. A qualitative process evaluation study informed by Normalization Process Theory is being conducted throughout to examine the potential promoters and inhibitors of introducing such an intervention into routine clinical practice, while a health economic sub-study running alongside the trial is examining the costs and benefits of such an approach to the wider health economy.
Author(s): Parry SW, Deary V, Finch T, Bamford C, Sabin N, McMeekin P, O'Brien J, Caldwell A, Steen N, Whitney SL, Macdonald C, McColl E
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Trials
Year: 2014
Volume: 15
Online publication date: 06/06/2014
Acceptance date: 08/05/2014
Date deposited: 03/09/2014
ISSN (electronic): 1745-6215
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1745-6215-15-210
DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-210
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