Effects of Fall Prevention Program for the Older Adults Based on Health Belief Model in Bophloi Hospital, Bophloi District, Kanchanaburi Province

Abstract

Objectives: To study the effects of a fall prevention program for older adults based on health belief model on the knowledge, perception, and fall prevention behaviors of elderly people.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study with two groups, pre- and post-test design was conducted. The sample consisted of 64 elderly people aged 60 years and over who lived in the area served by Bophloi Hospital between January and March 2014. They were divided into an intervention group and a control group of 32 people each. The intervention group received an 8-week fall prevention program. The research instruments consisted of a fall prevention program and a research questionnaire with a content validity index of 0.75 for the entire questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to compare differences using independent and dependent t-tests.

Results: After the experiment, the intervention group had significantly higher mean scores for knowledge (8.03±1.40 vs. 6.84±1.46; p<0.001), health belief perception (31.65±1.77 vs. 27.27±2.44; p<0.001) and fall prevention behaviors (40.06±3.01 vs. 37.09±3.06; p<0.001) than before the experiment. They were also significantly higher than the control group.

Conclusions: The fall prevention program for older adults based on health belief model was effective in preventing falls in elderly people. The fall prevention program can be implemented in neighboring areas within the responsible area and can be applied to public health services in the same area context.