Falls Assessment and Prevention

Lynn Alvord, Ph.D. Lynn S. Alvord, Ph.D., is the Director of the Falls Preventions Clinic, at the Henry Ford Health System, in Detroit, Michigan.

P. Overstall, Geriatric Medicine, County Hospital, Hereford, UK. Audiolocial Medicine. 2009; 7: 123. This book describes the highly unusual fall clinic at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The clinical coordinator (the author) is an audiologist who also performs vestibular testing, and works in a team with a physician who performs the general medical examination and a physiotherapist who assesses lower limb function and gait... Such multidisciplinary working is a model that is recommended in the Royal College of Physicians working party report - and now here is the book to tell us how to do it... [T]he sections on dizziness and vestibular testing are particularly good and reflect the author's extensive experience... I welcome his advice to practitioners not to hide behind a 'cop-out' diagnosis of multi-factorial when trying to establish the cause of a patient's falls. There may indeed be several reasons, but one should try to prioritize the most important and indeed pay particular attention o those that can be treated. He rightly stresses the importance of the medical assessment in the prevention of falls... [T]his is a book that I would welcome and would recommend to audiologists and audiovestibular physicians wanting to play an active role in the falls clinic and to physicians (usually geriatricians in the UK) and clinical nurse specialists whose experience of vestibular testing may be limited.

• Preface Introduction Scope of the Problem - Hope for Solutions Balance and Mobility Why We Fall Dizziness as a Symptom The Falls Clinic and Examination Preventing Falls Falls Prevention in Hospitals and Nursing Facilities Case Studies Appendix A: Suggested Additional Readings on Gait Appendix B: Example Falls Clinic Reports and Sample Blank Forms Appendix C: Safety Checklist Appendix D: Alvord Falls Screening Test Index