in the Helsinki metropolitan area of Finland. Everyday situations during home visits related to the clients' alcohol use were analysed according to modalities of agency of the home care professionals. RESULTS -The results focus on three themes raised in the interviews: supporting life management of the client, the lack of qualifications in tackling clients' drinking and the need for multi-professional collaboration. Intoxicated clients complicated the home care nurses' work and obstructed the implementation of recommendations set out to guide the professionals' operations. Care work with alcohol-using clients was particularly demanding, and the professionals were concerned about not having enough training in how to encounter elderly clients' drinking. Multi-professional collaboration with substance abuse services and emergency department personnel was called for to remedy this problem. CONCLUSIONS -More extensive and detailed research is needed for a better picture of how clients' drinking influences home care nurses' working conditions and what kind of skills nurses need in different alcohol-related situations. Such research would have the potential to benefit clients and improve the well-being of the employees.

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BackgroundIn Finland, more than 900 older people 65+ died due the fall in 2012. In addition, a fall was contributing factor of death of 770 persons 70 years and older. In 2012, costs of hospital inpatient care due to falls were close to EUR 400 million (THL injury database 2014).Description of the problemFalls prevention has become extremely timely along with Finnish ageing policy prioritising older people living at their own home as long as possible. Despite vast quantity of evidence about falls prevention, the actions to put them in practice have not been as systematic and widespread as possible. Falls prevention needs to be an integral part of care and services for older people at all levels of care and among all service providers.ResultsNational program, called IKINÄ, was launched in 2006 to enhance dissemination and implementation of sustainable falls prevention in Finland. Aim of the program is to provide knowledge and stress the importance of falls prevention to policy-makers and other executive authorities in national level as well as municipalities. To enhance implementation of falls prevention IKINÄ-program produces evidence-based tools and materials for professionals and organisations working with older people.During past ten years awareness of falls, their consequences and need for falls prevention have increased among professionals, both at executive level and those working in clinical practice, in the field of older people care and services in Finland. For example, several social and health care organisations have set the reduction of falls and fall injuries as their strategic goals. Thus, implementation of evidence-based falls prevention has become more systematic.ConclusionsFalls prevention requires to be continuous work and a joint effort of professionals working at all levels of care system of older people services. Sufficient resources should be allocated for falls prevention to ensure safe living at home for older people.

BackgroundFinland is a rapidly ageing society. The Finnish ageing policy prioritises older people living at home. Alcohol use of older people has become more common. Heavy drinking in particular leads to the need of increasing daily assistance and care. This paper discusses the challenging social situations of daily work of home care workers visiting alcohol consuming older people in their homes. This study, called “Ageing, alcohol and needs for services in home care” (2014–2015), is a part of the larger project “Harms to others from drinking: effects on health, wellbeing and the burden to society”.MethodsThe data consists of 13 thematic interviews with home care workers (n = 10) and their supervisors (n = 3). The interviews were conducted in one home care district in the metropolitan area in Finland.ResultsWhen making their home visits home care workers have to handle challenging safety issues, such as alcohol-drug interactions, injury prevention and their own safety at work. Home care workers encounter unpredictable situations where they for safety reasons cannot fulfil their professional intentions.ConclusionsHome care workers are in need of further training about special skills to manage alcohol-related safety questions. Collaboration crossing professional and sectoral boundaries should be created to help those older people who are at the risk of alcohol-related safety issues. Further research is needed on older peoples’ alcohol use from the point of view of home care workers.