Page 34 - Preventing Falls: How to Develop Community-based Fall Prevention Programs for Older Adults

Appendix E — Template for Developing a Sustainability Plan

A GUIDE TO IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY-BASED FALL PREVENTION PROGRAMS

Implementing Stepping On—A Coordinated Approach by
Two Colorado Hospital Systems
With the assistance of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE),
two Colorado hospital systems, consisting of 19 hospitals, implemented the evidence-based
fall prevention program Stepping On.
Key Strategies and Activities: Trauma nurses at two Level I trauma centers obtained Stepping On
licenses from the Wisconsin Institute on Aging, (the Stepping On coordinating center in the U.S.),
and became master trainers. The program was disseminated system-wide by training Stepping On
leaders at multiple facilities. Each health care system addressed the changes needed to implement
Stepping On in every trauma center. Critical changes included: 1) building group support to
share staff and resources, 2) garnering buy-in from management and the administration, and
3) identifying ways to fund the program and ensure that hospital physical therapists could
participate as leaders or guest experts.
Partners: CDPHE provided supplies for the leader trainings and small stipends, as needed, to cover
the hospitals’ start-up costs. CDPHE also provided technical assistance on how to market classes
and collect data. Hospitals capitalized on existing relationships to identify physical therapists,
pharmacists, vision specialists, and community safety personnel to act as the guest experts
required by Stepping On program. The hospital staff used community connections to identify class
locations and market the classes.

Implementation: Within 20 months, four Stepping On master trainers had conducted five classes
and trained 60 leaders. Within 24 months, 13 of the 19 hospitals were offering Stepping On
classes, either at the hospital or at community locations such as senior centers or independent
living facilities.
Quote: “Stepping On has taken on a life of its own. Most of our hospitals have waiting lists of
interested older adults, and we are adding classes to meet the demand. This is a great problem to
have. Our administration supports our work in Stepping On because we can show them the value
of implementing an evidence-based program and can show them the data that we are making a
difference.” Phyllis Uribe, MS BSN RN, Trauma Program Supervisor, HealthONE Hospitals

Source: CO Achievement Summary

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