I’m Still Standing – An Integrated Approach to Safe Mobility & Fall Prevention

Earlier this month, the IJSPHM & Falls Management sponsored its first virtual event. “I’m Still Standing” was a 3-day virtual summit that aimed to empower the attendees by broadening their knowledge of the relationship between safe mobility and falls prevention and how this can impact the safety of patients and those who care for them.

Each day focused on one different aspect of this relationship. Day 1 looked at recognizing and mitigating the physical risks that result from poor mobility as well as the technological interventions that can assist with promoting safe mobility and reducing the risk of falling.

Day 2 focused on the physiological and psychological risks of falling, building on the very enlightening presentation that ended the previous day about the sensory deficits of patients/residents suffering from dementia that increased their risk of falling.

Finally, Day 3 examined the skills required to be an effective leader to make the changes necessary to use human and technological resources more effectively. This was a particularly interactive day, capped off by a live Q&A with presenters and other experts that culminated in a discussion about what we need in order to take safe mobility and falls prevention to the next level.

The key area of consensus throughout the discussion was that there is a need to change curriculum requirements to include SPHM & falls prevention at pre-curriculum level for all health care disciplines, including medical staff, although much more than this was put forward, including the need for funding for technologies in home care that can assist with safe mobility and falls prevention and recovery.

More than 260 people signed up for the hybrid live and recorded event, which – apart from a few technical glitches on the first day – went very well.

We are very excited to announce that our next virtual summit, “Back to the SPHM Future” will take place April 16 –19, 2024 as part of International SPHM Awareness Month. We hope you will join us.

SPHM Journal Team