Queensland Stay on Your Feet - Trial project
Falls are the most common cause of serious injury among Queenslanders aged 60 years and over and account for the largest proportion of all injury-related deaths and hospitalisations.
Why a trial project?
Why the Wide Bay/Burnett region?
About the Trial Project
What we Learnt
Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Community Good Practice Toolkit
Why a trial project?
As there has been relatively little work undertaken to quantify the effectiveness of population-level falls prevention interventions, the intent of this project was to trial a variation of an effective community-based intervention run in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales during the 1990s. There was cooperation and collaboration between the project teams for the Queensland and New South Wales projects.
For more information on the New South Wales project, visit Northern Rivers Falls Injury Prevention Project.
Why the Wide Bay/Burnett region?
Queensland’s Wide Bay/Burnett region was chosen for this trial because it has Queensland’s highest proportion of people aged 60 years and over. This community-based falls prevention project was conducted by Queensland Health’s Wide Bay Population Health Unit, Queensland University of Technology and Injury Prevention and Control Australia Ltd. The trial was named Queensland Stay on Your Feet to reflect its use of a positive healthy active ageing approach.
About the trial project
Aim: To develop, trial and evaluate cost-effective and sustainable interventions aimed at reducing falls and subsequent injury among people aged 60 years and over, living in the general community.
Duration: Five years (2001 - 2006).
Location: Queensland’s Wide Bay/Burnett region is a large geographical area covering approximately 49, 000 square kilometres and encompassing both central and coastal regions. The project spanned 21 local government authority areas and involved a diverse range of communities including regional centres, small rural communities and coastal villages. Map of Wide Bay/Burnett region.
Primary Target Group and Setting: The trial project primarily targeted people aged 60 years or older living independently in the Wide Bay/Burnett community (approximately 49,000 people). Other target groups included government, community agencies, service providers and community members with a responsibility of providing goods and services to the primary target group.
Approach:
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Project design and activity priorities were determined using a community development approach (bottom up) through consultation with members of the primary target group.
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A partnership approach based on identifying shared responsibility around the common cause of falls prevention in older people was used.
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Evidence-based, multiple strategies predominantly focused on a range of awareness and information activities and resources; as well as encouraging, developing and promoting opportunities for increased physical activity.
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Sustainability was considered from the outset, and a capacity building approach was used to build local resources (physical/social/financial and human capital).
Staffing: A full-time project officer was appointed in the Wide Bay/Burnett community as a facilitator. A full-time administrative officer position also supported the project.
What we learnt
The Queensland Stay on Your Feet Wide Bay/Burnett trial project provides a real life, worked example of how evidence, theory and research translate into practice. Through conducting the trial, key learnings (both positive and negative) about the planning, implementing and evaluating of a comprehensive and sustainable falls prevention in older people project within a local community setting were identified.
Read more:
- Executive summary of the Wide Bay/Burnett Stay on Your Feet trial project
- Planning the Queensland Stay on Your Feet Wide Bay/Burnett trial project
- Implementing the Queensland Stay on Your Feet Wide Bay/Burnett trial project
- Evaluating the Queensland Stay on Your Feet Wide Bay/Burnett trial project
Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Community good practice toolkit
As no single falls prevention process works in all situations or settings, the key elements from this project have been used together with learnings from falls prevention research and projects in New South Wales and Western Australia to develop the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Community Good Practice Toolkit.
