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Q. What is Queensland Stay On Your Feet®?
Q. Is Stay On Your Feet® a Queensland production?
Q. Is Queensland Stay On Your Feet® a program?
Q. Can I use the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® branding for my local falls prevention activities?
Q. What is included in the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® suite of resources?
Q. Where can I get copies of the various Queensland Stay On Your Feet® resources?
Q. What is the Image library and how can I use it?
Q. Should Queensland Health staff always try and use Queensland Stay On Your Feet® when developing and implementing local falls prevention initiatives?
Q. What "dose" of physical activity is necessary to see a reduction in falls risk for older people?
Q. What’s the “cross continuum approach”?
Q. What are the risk factors for falls in older people?
Q. Who is the Stay On Your Feet® website and Toolkit designed for?
Q. How can I register with the Falls Injury Prevention Collaborative and stay in touch with the latest developments via email?
Q. Can I use the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® branding for my local falls prevention activities?
Q. What’s a public health approach to falls prevention?
Q. Why is falls prevention in older people everybody’s business?
Q. Why should we avoid mentioning “falls”? Are there other key words to avoid using and what words can we use instead?
Q. What role can General Practitioners play?
Q. What role can Local Government and other key stakeholders play?
Q. What role can groups like the fitness industry play?
Q. Is there anyone who can come and give a talk about Stay On Your Feet®? This could be either a talk to the target audience of older people or a professional development talk to relevant staff and service providers.
Q. Why is the target audience for Stay on Your Feet® those 40 years and older? Why not just target the frail aged?
Q. Why isn’t regular walking enough to prevent falls in older people?
Q. I’ve heard some parts of Queensland Health have local Stay On Your Feet® Action Plans. Are they just for Queensland Health staff? Who is the audience for reporting against these Local Action Plans?
Q. What is Queensland Health’s current position on nutrition for older adults and Vitamin D?
Q. I only assist older people with one part of their well-being, do I have a potential role beyond that?
Q. Why is it important to use validated screening and assessment tools?
Q. I can never find the web links for the FROP-COM and the HMR referral request form in the Stay On Your Feet® website. Can you tell me where they are please?
Q. What is Queensland Stay On Your Feet®?
A. Queensland Stay On Your Feet® is the name given to a state-wide suite of resources and a particular branding and style used to promote falls prevention for older people in Queensland.
Q. Is Stay On Your Feet® a Queensland production?
A. Queensland Stay On Your Feet® has been developed in Queensland, this work is based on current falls prevention evidence and also captures the key elements from previous Stay on Your Feet work including:
A. A program is a body of work designed to meet specified business outcomes which requires a funding submission and is usually made up of smaller projects.
At present Queensland Stay On Your Feet® is not yet a program. The process of developing a Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Statewide Falls Prevention Plan is underway, which, if endorsed, will help in making Queensland Stay On Your Feet® a program.
Currently Queensland Stay On Your Feet® provides a suite of evidence-based resources and methodologies that can help local practitioners to develop, implement and evaluate falls prevention initiatives in their local community.
The Queensland Stay On Your Feet® website and toolkit provides a step by step process using falls prevention examples to help develop local falls activities based on good practice and evidence.
Q. Can I use the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® branding for my local falls prevention activities?
A. If your local falls prevention activities (based in either the local community, in your health care facility or in a residential aged care location) are based on evidence from the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Community Good Practice Guidelines, then there is a strong basis to use the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® branding. However it would be appreciated if you could contact your local Regional Health Service’s Health Promotion Unit or the Health Promotion Branch in Brisbane on (07) 3328 9237 to ensure quality control.
A. The Queensland Stay On Your Feet® suite of resources all use a consistent style and “look”. Older people are shown in a positive and healthy way, alert, full of vigour, laughing with friends and family and having fun with different generations of people. All the information and recommendations are all based on the latest peer reviewed evidence.
The Queensland Stay On Your Feet® suite of resources suite includes:
A. To get copies of the short and long checklists, contact the:
Queensland Health Publications Unit
Queensland Health Building
147 Charlotte Street
Brisbane Queensland QLD 4001
Telephone: (07) 3234 1053
Facsimile: (07) 3234 0659.
To get copies of the:
Contact the Senior Health Promotion Officers – Injury Prevention/Safety Promotion
Phone: (07) 3328 9237/3328 9238
Facsimile: (07) 3328 9296
Email: stayonyourfeet@health.qld.gov.au
Q. What is the Image library and how can I use it?
A. The Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Image Library was developed to provide practitioners with a wide range of images of healthy active older people in a range of environments and reinforcing the key messages of Queensland Stay On Your Feet®.
A collection of low resolution images are stored on the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® website image library. These low resolution images are suitable for PowerPoint presentations and basic print publications. Just right click on the image you need and save it to your computer.
However, if you are producing a more substantial print resource, there are high resolution copies of the images are also available. Just Contact the Senior Health Promotion Officers – Injury Prevention/Safety Promotion, Phone: (07) 3328 9237 or 3328 9238 or facsimile: (07) 3328 9296, or email: stayonyourfeet@health.qld.gov.au Be sure to quote the number of the images required (this number will be part of the heading attached to the image when you open it on your computer screen) and allow a reasonable turn around time. The high resolution images you need will be emailed or burnt onto a disc and posted back to you as soon as practicable.
Appropriate acknowledgment to Queensland Health should be given.
Q. Should Queensland Health staff always try and use Queensland Stay On Your Feet® when developing and implementing local falls prevention initiatives?
A. Yes, Queensland Stay On Your Feet® has been developed to ensure a consistent approach and “feel” for falls prevention in Queensland. Provided your program is based on good evidence (such as the Community Good Practice Guidelines), it is important that the “brand” become more widely used and recognised by the community. If you have an existing, evidence-based program, consider co-badging your existing program with the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® style. It would also be appreciated if the copyright owners, the Western Australian Health Department, could also be acknowledged.
Q. What "dose" of physical activity is necessary to see a reduction in falls risk for older people?
A. According to the latest evidence (see page 80 of the Community Good Practice Guidelines), older people need to engage in a physical activity program which should
be specific for individuals, includes exercise that challenges balance at a moderate to high extent and has a high dose, that is, a twice weekly program over 25 or more weeks.
For further information visit the website.
Q. What's the "cross continuum approach"?
A. A definition of Cross Continuum is the coordinated approach to the delivery of falls prevention programs through communication, coordination and partnerships between all sectors from the wider community, primary health care, acute, residential aged care facilities and rehabilitation sectors.
For more information refer to:
Q. What are the risk factors for falls in older people?
A. There are a number of risk factors for falls in older people, many of which can occur together. Some of these risk factors are “external” to the person (such as environmental hazards) whilst others relate to the older person themselves (such as an individual’s use of multiple medications). For a complete list, see pps 46-47 of the Community Good Practice Guidelines.
In summary, the most strongly associated risk factors for falls are:
A key point to make here is that the risk of a fall increases as the number of risk factors increases.
For further information visit the website.
Q. Who is the Stay On Your Feet® website and Toolkit designed for?
A. The website and toolkit is for anyone who works with older people, including individuals, organisations, health professionals, local councils and other government departments. A CD version of the Toolkit is also available for people who work with older people in the community, but have limited or no access to the Internet.
For further information visit the website.
Q. How can I register with the Falls Injury Prevention Collaborative and stay in touch with the latest developments via email?
A. To join the Falls Injury Prevention Collaborative (FIPC), you need to demonstrate a role or primary interest in falls prevention among older people.
To become a member of the FIPC email network: complete the online registration form. There are already over 900 members of this email network who receive a weekly, comprehensive e-alert listing falls related research, professional development opportunities and other falls prevention related information.
To find out more about becoming a FIPC member, contact Queensland Health's Falls Injury Prevention Program Coordinator.
Q. What’s a public health approach to falls prevention?
A. A public health model targets the population as a whole and aims to shift the whole population’s distribution of risk through community-wide interventions, since small shifts in some risks across the whole population can translate into major public health benefits. Refer to the Community Good Practice Guidelines pages 27-30.
For further information visit the website:
Q. Why is falls prevention in older people everybody’s business?
A. Falls prevention cannot be effective if key stakeholders who work with older people continue to work in isolation [76]. Greater co-ordination, integration and communication systems need to be developed to improve information sharing about and between services for older people.
Q. Why should we avoid mentioning "falls"? Are there other key words to avoid using and what words can we use instead?
A. International research showed that older people were more receptive to messages about the positive benefits of balance and mobility. Australian research has highlighted the need to focus on enhancing lifestyle, staying independent and using active ageing messages rather than focussing on falls prevention.
The key messages for Queensland Stay On Your Feet® are strength, balance, health, safety and independence. These are highlighted on the front of the checklists and are also on the pull up banners.
For further information visit the website.
Q. What role can General Practitioners play?
A. Generally, health professionals such as General Practitioners are the first point of contact an older person has with the health system. Primary health care providers have a number of critical roles to play to help reduce falls among older people including asking the simple question “have you had a slip, trip or fall (even without an injury) in the last six months?"
For further information visit the website.
Q. What role can Local Government and other key stakeholders play?
A. Local government, private businesses, the fitness industry and other community organisations can look at ways to provide more physical activity options for older people at times and locations that are suitable. Transport departments, local governments, businesses, service groups and community organisations also need to address the lack of safe and available transport options for older people.
For further information visit the website.
Q. What role can groups like the fitness industry play?
A. The fitness industry can play a significant role in assisting the community with healthy active ageing. They can help by:
Q. Is there anyone who can come and give a talk about Stay On Your Feet®? This could be either a talk to the target audience of older people or a professional development talk to relevant staff and service providers.
A. At present Public Health Units are conducting Stay On Your Feet® talks with their healthy active ageing partners. Currently, there is no provision for Stay On Your Feet® talks to be delivered by Public Health staff or volunteers directly to older people. This is a gap that has been identified and may be addressed through the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Statewide Falls Prevention Plan.
Some talks are provided by physiotherapists and occupational therapists for those older people who access Community Health care services.
The Council of the Ageing – Queensland (COTAQ) also offer talks on Sweet Dreams which address alternative sleeping regimes to medication.
Q. Why is the target audience for Stay on Your Feet® those 40 years and older? Why not just target the frail aged?
A. Stay on Your Feet® is a healthy active ageing message and has always addressed people aged 60 years and over not just the frail aged. Due to evidence indicating age-related declines in vision, muscle strength and postural sway1 from the age of 40 onwards, a healthy active ageing approach to falls prevention will be adopted which targets Queenslanders aged 40 years and over. This is also a part of the Strategic Directions for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion 2009-2012.
Through this approach we are also implementing strategies to support the National Falls Prevention for Older People Plan: 2004 Onwards by working toward goal number one:
Generating a low risk population and promoting independence.
Q. Why isn't regular walking enough to prevent falls in older people?
A. Walking is one of the most common physical activities undertaken by older people, and there is good evidence of a positive benefit from increased walking in terms of chronic disease prevention, however there is, to date, no definitive evidence that walking programs actually reduce falls rates. See the Community Good Practice Guidelines, page 83.
Q. I've heard some parts of Queensland Health have local Stay On Your Feet® Action Plans. Are they just for Queensland Health staff? Who is the audience for reporting against these Local Action Plans?
A. The Stay On Your Feet® Action Plans build upon previous work undertaken across Queensland. In 2006-2007 local District Action Plans were developed for hospitals with the support of the Falls Injury Prevention Program at the Patient Safety Centre. In 2008, there was a pilot project known as the Area Falls Safety Officer Project. This Project built on previous work and broadened the falls prevention work across the health continuum. In doing this, Stay On Your Feet® Action Plans were developed to address the gaps identified across the continuum and improve communication. These Plans are reported on by each organisation who has agreed to contribute to the Plan. Additionally they are also reported on through the Queensland Health Preventative Health Directorate and the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Service.
Q. What is Queensland Health’s current position on nutrition for older adults and Vitamin D?
A. There is growing evidence that a number of older people are undernourished or malnourished. This negatively impacts on their ability to function independently. The Falls Injury Prevention Collaborative Falls and Nutrition Working Group was established in 2008. This group worked to update the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Will I stay active and independent: short checklist to include Healthy Eating statements. The changes include:
Q. I only assist older people with one part of their well-being, do I have a potential role beyond that?
A. We all have a role to play in helping people stay on their feet. Even if your work only addresses one aspect of an older person’s health it is still important that everyone promotes the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® resources so that we can reach all of the older population and regularly reinforce consistent messages.
Q. Why is it important to use validated screening and assessment tools?
A. Tools that predict a person’s health risk need to be tested to show that they can accurately determine that there is a health risk present or not. For a tool to be considered “validated”, they need to meet the gold standard criteria for quality risk assessment tools. See page 58 of the Community Good Practice Guidelines.
Q. I can never find the web links for the FROP-COM and the HMR referral request form in the Stay On Your Feet® website. Can you tell me where they are please?
A. There are a number of key web links from the Stay On Your Feet® website and other locations, including:
1 Lord, S., Sherrington, C., Menz, H. & Close J. 2007. Falls in older people: Risk factors and strategies for prevention. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press,Cambridge
2 Ferguson, M., Capra, S., Bauer, J. & Banks, M. 1999. Development of a valid and reliable malnutrition screening tool for adult acute hospital patients. Applied Nutritional Investigation. 15(6):458-464.
3 Position statement for the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, Osteoporosis Australia and the Endocrine Society of Australia (page 317-18)
4 Lord, S. R., Sherrington, C., Menz, H. J. 2001. Falls in older people. Risk factors and strategies for prevention. Cambridge University Press.
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