Transitions from healthcare to self-care: a qualitative study of falls service practitioners' views on self-management

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to understand the views of falls service practitioners regarding: their role in supporting self-management of falls prevention; and a transition pathway from National Health Service (NHS) exercise-based falls interventions to community-run exercise programmes.

Method

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with physiotherapists, nurses, and rehabilitation assistants (n = 8) who worked in an NHS falls service. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

Certain aspects of supporting patients in self-management were deemed to be within or beyond the scope of falls service practitioners. Challenges in supporting transition to community-run programmes included: practitioner awareness and buy in; patient buy in; and patient suitability/programme availability.

Conclusion

Practitioners sought to be patient-centred as a means to engage patients in self-management of falls prevention exercises. Time-limited intervention periods and waiting list pressures were barriers to the promotion of long-term self-management approaches. A disconnect between falls service interventions and community-run programmes hindered willing practitioners from supporting patients in transitioning. Unless falls risk and prevention is seen by healthcare providers as a long-term condition which requires person-centred support from practitioners to develop self-management approaches, then falls services may only be able to offer short-term measures which are potentially not long lasting.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Falls rehabilitation practitioners need to take a person-centred approach to engage patients in self-management of falls prevention exercises.

• Providing information and signposting to exercise opportunities such as community-run programmes following falls service interventions should be viewed as being within the scope of the role of falls service practitioners.

• Rehabilitation practitioners should consider viewing falls risk as a long-term condition, to promote longer-term behavioural change approaches to ongoing engagement of exercise for falls prevention.

Keywords:

• Self-management;
• falls prevention;
• falls service;
• patient-centred care;
• physiotherapists;
• rehabilitation assistants;
• nurses;
• community exercise programmes

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was carried out by funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund.