Falls are one of the leading causes of injuries and deaths among older adults in the United States. Falls can have a significant negative impact on a patient’s quality of life. Frequently, victims of a fall injury will develop a fear of falling, which can cause a restriction in everyday life. Estimates for patients who develop fear of falling are as high as 85%. This can also result in impaired functional capacity, decreased cognitive function, and depression. Therefore, it is crucial to determine how to best prevent falls. 

This VIP Team has is three sub-teams, each led by a graduate student and involving up to five undergraduate research team members. 

Cohort Study for Catching Barriers to Falls Prevention

Fall prevention programs aim to reduce the problem of falls, but patients face many barriers when trying to enroll. Therefore, investigation is needed to better understand the specific barriers to enrolling in fall prevention programs. 

This study aims to gather data on potential barriers among patients that keep them from enrolling in fall prevention programs on two occasions: 1) during their stay at the hospital, and 2) a month after patient discharge. Our data will inform further investigations and eventual improvements to fall prevention programs. 

Discharge Companion - Improving Health Literacy of Fall Patients Using AI   

Patients often show a lack of understanding of their condition and treatment plans and then experience adverse events following discharge. Poor communication of discharge information and low health literacy levels are associated with these adverse health outcomes. This suggests that the current hospital discharge process fails to adequately convey this information or be adequately understood and utilized by patients.  

Our core hypothesis is that using MayaRED, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) health assistant, at discharge, in addition to the current discharge standard of care at Banner University Medical Center Tucson, will 1) Improve measures on the Trauma-Specific Health Literacy Questionnaire and 2) Improve secondary outcomes associated with low literacy scores including patient-reported outcomes, readmission rates, and mortality among trauma patients. This technology has yet to be tested in any surgical setting; this study aims to bridge that gap. 

In-Hospital Referral System Research Project 

Falls are a leading cause of death due to an injury which results in emergency department visits in the older adult population. The Matter of Balance (MOB) program was developed for at-risk elderly populations to reduce the risk of future falls by improving one’s self-efficacy regarding falls management, reduction of the fear of falling, and improving activity levels. There is inadequate outreach towards the population that would benefit the most from MOB and the in-hospital referral system can improve the number of trauma patients who attend MOB. In partnering with the Pima Council on Aging, the trauma department can reduce the number of recurrent falls by referring patients to MOB. 

This is a non-blinded randomized controlled trial of patients who have been recently discharged after having suffered a traumatic fall. Participants will be split into two groups: MOB referral and control with 20 participants in both. Those in the MOB group will be given a referral pamphlet with information on the MOB program and those who would benefit from enrollment.