Sydney Musculoskeletal Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; University of Queensland's Clinical Trial Capability (ULTRA) team, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;
Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, Australia.
Public Health Res Pract. 2024 Apr 4;34(1):3412405. doi: 10.17061/phrp3412405.
While systems thinking has gained recognition as an important approach in health policy and prevention research, its application in the context of fall prevention among community-dwelling older adults has been underutilised. Here, we build on the guiding principles of the systemic lens component of the Prevention System Change Framework to assess and identify potential changes that are required to facilitate policy action in the field of falls prevention.
We conducted a desktop search to identify policy documents encompassing falls prevention among community-dwelling older adults in Australia. Documents were considered eligible if they were published in the last 10 years and were authored or endorsed by federal or state government bodies. We collaboratively examined eligible documents to gain insights into the current policy landscape in falls prevention and to illustrate opportunities for action and the potential for strengthening partnerships.
There is no current national policy on preventing falls in older adults in Australia. While we identified eight policy documents, none focused exclusively on falls prevention, indicating that falls are currently not perceived as a public health issue that warrants a dedicated policy framework. We identified a need for a comprehensive national policy that draws upon insights from various disciplines, suggests intersectoral collaboration, addresses health inequities and involves meaningful engagement with key stakeholders. Future falls prevention policies may benefit from clear governance structures and specific targets, along with mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating outcomes.
Falls prevention is a pressing public health concern that requires dedicated policy resources. Adopting a systems-oriented approach can help reduce falls and their associated burdens on individuals and the healthcare system. Acknowledging the urgency and complexity of this challenge is a first, essential step toward crafting a comprehensive national falls prevention policy.
尽管系统思维已被公认为健康政策和预防研究的重要方法，但在社区居住的老年人跌倒预防方面的应用尚未得到充分利用。在这里，我们借鉴预防系统变革框架的系统视角的指导原则，评估和确定需要进行哪些潜在变革，以促进跌倒预防领域的政策行动。
我们进行了桌面搜索，以确定澳大利亚涵盖社区居住老年人跌倒预防的政策文件。如果文件是在过去 10 年内发布的，并且是由联邦或州政府机构撰写或认可的，则被认为符合条件。我们共同审查了符合条件的文件，以了解当前跌倒预防政策的情况，并说明采取行动的机会和加强伙伴关系的潜力。
澳大利亚目前没有专门针对老年人预防跌倒的国家政策。虽然我们确定了八项政策文件，但没有一项专门针对跌倒预防，这表明目前人们认为跌倒不是一个需要专门政策框架的公共卫生问题。我们发现需要制定一项全面的国家政策，该政策借鉴各个学科的见解，建议开展部门间合作，解决健康不平等问题，并与主要利益攸关方进行有意义的接触。未来的跌倒预防政策可能受益于明确的治理结构和具体目标，以及监测和评估结果的机制。
跌倒预防是一个紧迫的公共卫生问题，需要专门的政策资源。采取系统思维方法可以帮助减少跌倒及其对个人和医疗保健系统的相关负担。认识到这一挑战的紧迫性和复杂性是制定全面的国家跌倒预防政策的第一步，也是至关重要的一步。
