The findings indicate that there are different risk factors for falls for people living in residential aged care facilities who can and cannot stand unaided. These findings provide important information for developing fall-prevention strategies and suggest that those who can stand unaided but have multiple falls risk factors constitute the highest priority group for such interventions.

Despite controversy over the risks and benefits of statin therapy, statins continue to be commonly used medicines by older people. In a cohort study of participants aged ≥70 years (n = 540) living in residential care, Sydney, we found that the proportion of statin users decreased gradually from the baseline of 33.1% to 31.3% at 6 months (P = 0.13) and to 28.7% over 1 year (P = 0.002). Prevalence of statin use decreased with increasing age, with individuals aged ≥90 years being more likely to discontinue or deprescribe statins. The patterns of statin use did not change according to increasing baseline dose or baseline indication.

Objective:  To determine the impact of awareness‐raising strategies of calcium and vitamin D supplements in the active management of bone health of older people living in nursing care facilities in Australia. Design:  We compared data drawn from two prospective cohort studies that have evaluated falls and fractures in older people living in hostels (intermediate care facilities): the FREE study (conducted from 1996–2002, n = 1107) and the ongoing FREEDOM study (commenced in 2006, n = 1284 screened individuals). Both studies recruited older people living in a large number of nursing care facilities in northern Sydney (Australia). Results:  We found a small but significant increase in both calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the FREEDOM study participants compared to those in the FREE study. Calcium alone increased from 6.2% to 10.5% (P = 0.0002), vitamin D alone from 5.8% to 7.9% (P = 0.04) and the combined use of calcium and vitamin D increased from 1.6% to 11.9% (P < 0.0001). Conclusion:  There appears to be increasing awareness of the need for calcium and vitamin D supplementation in older people in nursing care facilities. However, given the high prevalence of osteoporosis and vitamin D deficiency among this population, the levels of supplementation achieved must still be considered suboptimal for treatment and prevention of osteoporosis and falls.