Boosting hospital falls prevention using health assistant staff alongside usual care

Abstract

Objectives: Patient education is crucial for preventing hospital falls, yet workforce constraints can hinder targeted delivery. Utilising supervised healthcare assistants can enhance standard care. This study sought to understand factors that impact the feasibility of supplementing usual care with patient falls education delivered by supervised allied health assistants.

Methods: In a qualitative study nested within a randomised controlled trial, focus groups and interviews were conducted with twelve health assistants, seven allied health professionals and two managers from the participating hospital. This elicited insights on barriers and facilitators to implementing workforce redesign to deliver tailored patient falls education. An inductive approach was used to thematically analyse the data.

Results: Three key themes emerged: (i) it was feasible for health assistants to deliver hospital patient education; (ii) patients engaged with hospital falls prevention education delivered by assistants; (iii) hospital workforce redesign can be successfully implemented provided there is system-wide buy-in.

Conclusions: Health assistants can be trained to successfully deliver hospital falls prevention education provided they have adequate supervision, training, and resources.

Practice implications: Sustained implementation requires dedicated staffing hours for service delivery and staff education.

Keywords: Care workforce; Education; Falls; Hospital; Qualitative; Workforce redesign.