Engagement of general practitioners in falls prevention and referral to occupational therapists

Abstract

Introduction: Falls prevention is a key activity for general practitioners, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals. Despite evidence for multidisciplinary community-based interventions, uptake of falls prevention is variable. General practitioners are crucial in identifying older people at risk of falls and referring for intervention. This research aims to identify the current practice of general practitioners in falls prevention and to identify opportunities for occupational therapists in particular to extend their role in falls prevention in primary care. Method: A total of 4000 paper surveys were mailed to randomly selected general practitioners within 209 clinical commissioning groups in England. Online surveys were also distributed via clinical commissioning groups to approximately 3200 general practitioners. Descriptive analysis of the data was undertaken. Results: A total of 152 general practitioners responded. More than half indicated they were familiar with the UK guidelines for falls risk screening, but less than a third implemented these. Only 31% routinely asked older people if they had fallen. Whilst 90% identified occupational therapists as providing evidence-based falls prevention, only 74% referred to occupational therapy. Conclusion: There are gaps in general practitioners’ falls prevention referral practices to occupational therapists and allied health professionals. Better general practitioner pathways could enhance the quality of falls-prevention care for older people at risk.