Older People’s Perceptions of falls and the Risk of Falling

The study aimed to explore older people’s perceptions of risk of falling and their experience of falling to identify how they prevented and coped with falls and their implications for fall rehabilitation. Nine participants who were in a community fall prevention programme because they had fallen were recruited and interviewed in Scotland, using semi-structured interviews to collect data. Data was transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological approach as the research question required insight into the lived experiences of participants and how they made sense of the phenomena under investigation. Seven broad themes emerged from the interviews: Falls experiences and risk factors of falling; Self-perceived risk of falling; Personal responsibility and self-blame; Impact of falling; Use of assistive devices/telecare/fall detectors; Support from family, friends and professionals; and Views on fall rehabilitation / intervention programme. On the one hand, older people in this study perceived the reasons for falling as something unexpected, beyond their control, unpredictable and unpreventable.