UTC faculty and students from various disciplines recently headed to Lowe’s to help educate the community on preventing falls and other home safety ideas at this year’s Falls Prevention Awareness Day.
Students from the Department of Nursing, Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, Occupational Therapy, and Social Work partnered with the Hamilton County Health Department, Siskin Rehab, and others to organize this event. This event was a part of InterProfessional Collaborative Practice Approach for Geriatric Education Strategies (ICPC-AGES) and Providing Advanced, Culturally Competent Care through Clinical Training (PACT4). In response to regional health indicators and health workforce needs, UTC designed IPCP-AGES and PACT4 with the support of Heath Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grants.
Dr. Cathy Scott, UTC Assistant Professor of Social Work, had her students participate by researching and making a pamphlet about food and home safety.
“The students handed out and explained the pamphlets to attendees and assisted in finding supplies and tools that promote home safety,” Scott said.
UTC students and faculty worked in stations throughout Lowe’s, providing information to older adults, family members, caregivers, and service providers. They demonstrated items that can be used in the home of an older person to create safer living conditions. They also discussed fall risk factors and recommendations to prevent a fall and promote safety in the home environment. Visitors were able to tour home safety stations, watch a fall prevention and home safety demonstration by local experts, talk to aging-in-place specialists, sign up for a balance screening, and learn about other free prevention programs in the area.
The event not only helped raise awareness about the risk of falls for older adults, but also provided its students with experiential learning necessary for future health care professionals.
“In social work, our mission is to help those in need, so anything we can do to promote knowledge and experience in our students is important. Falls Prevention Awareness Day was a great opportunity for our students to engage with those in our community who need assistance. One of our goals as a department is to give our students as many real life experiences working with clients as possible before they graduate,” Scott said.
“It’s also important to teach our students how to collaborate with other departments and to partner with other agencies in the community to help those people in need,” Scott continued.
