An Interprofessional Falls Assessment Clinic Model to Develop Collaborative Team Skills among Health Professional Students

BACKGROUND Older adults are at increased risk for falls and fall related injuries, leading to loss of independence, disability, and increased mortality. Preventing injury and falls is a national Healthy People 2010 objective. However, physicians and other health professionals frequently fail to incorporate known evidence into usual care. Screening for falls is not consistently performed as an essential assessment in older adults by primary care providers. Multidisciplinary assessment can be an important component in preventing falls in community dwelling adults. In new practice models, such as the Chronic Care Model, there is an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, however health professions students have little or no opportunity to practice together during their educational training. Students need innovative and comprehensive learning experiences in which they work collaboratively with other disciplines to solve healthcare problems in a growing geriatric population