WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 4, 2014) – The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a five-year, $30 million national study of the effectiveness of a multi-pronged strategy that includes deploying nurses or nurse practitioners trained as “falls care managers” to provide older adults with individually tailored, evidence-based care plans to help them avoid falls and related injuries.

The award funded by PCORI and made by NIA as part of a first of its kind partnership between the nonprofit institute and the federal agency will support a uniquely patient-centered approach to reducing rates of fall-related injuries among non-institutionalized older adults. The study will be led by several of the country’s leading geriatric experts and conducted in collaboration with older individuals, family caregivers, and other stakeholder partners who will contribute to all phases of the research. Patients, stakeholders, nurses, and primary care physicians will play key roles as partners in implementing the tailored care approach.

Falls rank among the most common and potentially devastating problems facing the growing population of older adults and their families. Every year, roughly one in three adults over age 65 falls, and as many as 30 percent suffer moderate to severe injuries, which can lead to further declines in health and loss of independence. Rates of fall-related injuries remain stubbornly high despite research pointing to effective interventions. Among other challenges, many older patients are reluctant to disclose previous falls and only a third are screened for this problem during primary care visits. >>

The Dell Rapids Community Hospital Foundation is buying new physical therapy equipment for Avera Dells Area Hospital.

The foundation recently approved the purchase of a Biodex Balance System.

The Biodex Balance System SD is a balance testing and training tool that helps a wide range of patients, from athletes to older adults. Using the system, therapists are able to assess fall risk and then recommend exercises to help improve balance, agility and muscle tone. Other applications include screening athletes for single-leg injuries, concussion management and wellness or fitness activities. >>

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Some schools like Colchester High School conduct baseline concussion screening tests for each athlete at the beginning of the school year. It is not a state requirement. There is some debate over the accuracy of the computer-based tests, which is why some parents are opting to have their children tested independently.

"It is a big issue because you need to make sure your athletes can return to what they did before. If you don't get a baseline test and they get hit in the head, you don't know where they are starting from in terms of making a return to play decision. So you need that to understand are they back to a baseline or for us within 15 percent of their baseline, so they can be cleared to go back into sport," said Sean Fitzgerald, a physical therapist.

Transitions Physical Therapy uses a test that includes a review of symptoms, neuro-cognitive processing and something called a neuro-physical balance assessment, using a machine called the Biodex Balance System. >>

When John Klimkiewicz, MD, signed on as an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in sport injuries at Georgetown University Hospital three years ago, he essentially became the team physician for the 670 athletes that make up all of the university's varsity teams. In addition, he has a full practice of patients, which includes seeing as many as 140 patients a week and performing about 400 surgical cases a year.

This is all part of being on the team at one of the top sports medicine programs in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The majority of patients seen by Dr. Klimkiewicz and the hospital's outpatient physical therapists are between 20 and 50 years old. And these athletes are "looking to get back to 100% as quickly as possible," Dr. Klimkiewicz said. "They are young, aggressive, Type-A people. They're not going to accept take two Advil, and take two months off." >>

ELLSWORTH — Falls are common among people over 65. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified falling as the top cause of injury-related deaths in this age group. Falls affect about 30 percent of seniors and trigger 1.8 million injuries annually.

Elderly people’s risk of falling, however, can be effectively reduced through various interventions. All of Hancock County’s hospitals are equipped to properly assess an individual’s balance and risk of taking a tumble. Noteworthy, though, is the fact that Maine Coast Memorial Hospital staffers campaigned for and served as guinea pigs in the development of a portable balance-testing and training device enabling them to provide those services at all their hospital’s rehab sites including Ellsworth, Somesville and Gouldsboro. >>