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About Us
Focus on Falls Prevention Project
Improving Vision Prevents Falls
Accreditation Canada has incorporated Falls Prevention as a separate goal, “Reduce the risk of injuries resulting from client falls,” as well as the associated Required Organizational Practice (ROP), “Implement and evaluate a falls prevention strategy to minimize the impact of client falls.” Misericordia Health Centre meets this ROP through its award-winning* Falls Prevention Project.
The Focus on Falls Prevention initiative is a pilot and research project initiated at Misericordia Health Centre in collaboration with Manitoba Health. The goal of the project is to assess vision - with a unique vision screening tool - of “at risk for falls” residents who reside in long-term centres in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
The vision screening tool has proven to be a successful strategy to effectively identify and appropriately refer people with visual deficits who are a high risk for falls and possible fractures.
*The Focus on Falls Prevention Project continues to garner awards, including:
- Manitoba Innovations Award 2009
- Manitoba Injury Prevention Award: Research 2008
- Long Term Care Association of Manitoba: Award of Excellence Community Services 2006
- Fred Douglas Society: Humanitarian Award, Professional 2006
Vision Screening Kit
Our vision-screening tool contains:
- An instruction booklet
- The vision screening tool
- A referral algorithm
The vision screening tool provides a quick and easy vision assessment, determining if visual impairment is impacting on a resident’s activities of daily living. The algorithm guides the user to refer the resident to the appropriate eye care specialist. The vision screening tool has been designed to be useful to everyone, including the cognitively impaired and English as an additional language residents.
Our research study has deemed this tool as a highly reliable and valid vision screening tool.
Interested in establishing vision screening in your facility? Learn about our train-the-trainer workshops and costs.
For more information, please call our Focus on Falls Prevention hotline at 204-788-8488 or toll-free at 1-866-969-8488.
Vision Health and Falls - Did you know:
- Many people have undetected vision problems and are not aware of how it is affecting their health and daily living?
- Our vision changes as we age? You may not even be aware that your vision has become less clear.
- Vision loss among seniors is one of the leading causes of losing independence?
- Falling can cause bones to break and may cause admission to hospital?
- Vision problems that affect your activities of daily living are easily detected by a simple vision screening test conducted by a trained health-care provider, who will then be able to refer you to the appropriate eye care specialist?
- There is treatment for most types of vision problems?
- An optometrist can detect vision problems, refer you to an ophthalmologist and determine and provide you with correct prescriptive lenses?
