Fall prevention program is helping seniors at Evanston Summit live independently for as long as possible

Yanit Williams, a health care aide at Evanston Summit, a Covenant Living residence for more than 100 seniors in Calgary, is acutely aware that injuries due to falls can threaten the independence of the residents in her care.

“As seniors get older, they become much more prone to falls,” says Yanit. “We want our residents to have the best quality of life possible for as long as they can, and to be as independent and self-sufficient as possible, and a big part of this is reducing the risk of falls.”

For this reason, Evanston Summit has adopted Strategies and Actions for Independent Living (SAIL), a three-week-long micro-certificate program developed by the University of Victoria that aims to facilitate prolonged independent living by providing health care aides with specialized training in fall prevention, thereby enhancing seniors’ quality of life. With funding from the Covenant Foundation, this training program is now being offered to all employees at Evanston Summit, from licensed practical nurses to housekeeping and dining room staff.

“The programming we offer our staff, including this program, has been a major selling point for us,” says Marjory Nazar, site manager at Evanston Summit. “We call what we offer independent living with support because we provide home care for that extra layer of support for our residents.”

“In addition to preventing injuries, we want residents who get injured to be able to do their rehabilitation and then come back and continue living independently with the necessary support. Basically, our goal is to help people live with us for as long as possible.”

The instructor-led SAIL course offers case studies, videos, discussions and interactive assessments. In it, participants learn how to apply the following:

• a specially developed exercise program that includes videos and handouts for seniors’ use, as well as training on how to motivate and support seniors to use the program
• a detailed risk factor checklist
• an action plan framework with numerous strategies and actions for reducing each risk factor
• fall tracking and reporting tools

Course participants also receive optional ongoing yearly access to the SAIL tools and videos, including additional guidance for home care service supervisors for managing a SAIL program.

Yanit took the course in October last year and has been implementing its learnings in her work ever since.

The first step is risk screening, where staff talk to residents and assess their space to determine potential fall risks, says Yanit. They then give residents a questionnaire about any recent falls they’ve had and a calendar for monitoring any time they have a fall. Staff can then determine if residents need extra aids, like a walker or cane, different footwear or even incontinence products since rushing to the toilet can be a cause of falls. In independent living, staff are not always with residents, so remaining in communication with them is also important, Yanit says.

Communication skills are a key aspect of what the course teaches, says Marjory.

“Sometimes you have to be careful about how you communicate potential risks to residents. Let’s say, for example, that you come into a resident’s space for a look around and you see an area rug that you recognize as a tripping hazard but that might have sentimental value to the resident. You don’t want to just bluntly say that it’s not safe and they should remove it. You want to gently bring up the subject and have them arrive at a solution that ensures safety but that they’re happy with.”

The program is more than fall prevention, says Marjory. Aside from teaching staff how to write an incident report, it also instructs them on how to help residents recover from falls and potential injuries and ease back into independent living.

“When a resident comes back from hospital after an injury and they’re still weak, it takes them a while to rebuild their confidence in their legs,” Marjory says.

“What we offer is someone who can walk with them and help them regain confidence, even if it's just going down the hall for a meal, and to keep doing this until they no longer fear going down to the dining room. Many of us have elderly parents as well, and the skills they teach in the SAIL course are helpful across the board.”

Ultimately, staff are using the program to add value to the lives of the 109 residents of Evanston Summit, most of whom live independently without dedicated support.

“It’s essential that we do everything we can to prolong our residents’ independence,” says Yanit.

“Seniors come to us because they want to downsize and reduce their responsibilities, like cooking and housekeeping, but they still want to enjoy life to its fullest. This means going shopping, going to theatres and doing other recreational activities. When you reach a certain age, there are invariably things you can no longer do, like drive, but at the very least, you have the freedom to go out for a walk, go shopping and do other things that add value to life and contribute to happiness. If we can help them do that, we’re doing our job.”