Can peer education improve beliefs, knowledge, motivation and intention to engage in falls prevention amongst community-dwelling older adults?

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of delivering a contemporary peer-led falls prevention education presentation on community-dwelling older adults' beliefs, knowledge, motivation and intention to engage in falls prevention strategies. A two-group quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test study using a convenience sample was conducted. A new falls prevention training package for peer educators was developed, drawing on contemporary adult learning and behaviour change principles. A 1-h presentation was delivered to community-dwelling older adults by peer educators trained with the new package (intervention group). Control group participants received an existing, 1-h falls prevention presentation by trained peer educators who had not received the adult learning and behaviour change training. Participants in both groups completed a purpose-developed questionnaire at pre-presentation, immediately post-presentation and at one-month follow-up. Participants' levels of beliefs, knowledge, motivation and intention were compared across these three points of time. Generalised estimating equations models examined associations in the quantitative data, while deductive content analysis was used for qualitative data. Participants (control = 99; intervention = 133) in both groups showed significantly increased levels of beliefs and knowledge about falls prevention, and intention to engage in falls prevention strategies over time compared to baseline. The intervention group was significantly more likely to report a clear action plan to undertake falls prevention strategies compared to the control group. Peer-led falls prevention education is an effective approach for raising older adults' beliefs, knowledge and intention to engage in falls prevention strategies.

Design and development of a theory-informed peer-led falls prevention education programme to translate evidence into practice: a systematic approach

“…This peer-led education programme was subsequently evaluated and was found to be an effective approach for translating evidence into practice in falls prevention, by significantly raising community-dwelling older adults' levels of beliefs and knowledge about falls prevention and intention to engage in evidence-based strategies. The results of the programme evaluation are reported in detail elsewhere (Khong et al 2017). The efficacy of the intervention could be attributed to the four-step method of the design, which involved older adults as consumers, and sought theirs and other stakeholders' feedback.…”

“…Participants in both groups showed raised levels of beliefs, knowledge and intentions to engage in falls preventions following the programme. However, the intervention group was significantly more likely to report a clear action plan to engage in falls prevention strategies compared to the control group (Khong et al 2017).…”

“…Test-retest reliability of the questionnaire was conducted with 49 community-dwelling older adults. Briefly, results showed that the questionnaire was a reliable instrument for assessing the health behaviour change outcomes (detailed results reported elsewhere) (Khong et al 2017).…”

“…The theoretical framework which underpinned the programme design was the COM-B model (Michie, van Stralen, and West 2011). The programme was subsequently evaluated in a quasi-experimental trial to examine its impact on community-dwelling older adults' beliefs; knowledge of falls and falls prevention, their intention and motivation to engage in falls prevention strategies across three points of time (Khong et al 2017). Control group participants (n = 99) attended an existing peer-led falls prevention programme and intervention participants (n = 133) attended the new peer-led falls prevention programme.…”

Exploring purpose‐designed audio‐visual falls prevention messages on older people's capability and motivation to prevent falls

“…A purposeful sampling method was conducted to recruit a minimum of 50 participants for the focus groups, a number considered sufficient for providing rich and meaningful data about older people's perspectives on the prototype AV messages to the point of data saturation (Braun & Clarke, ). The sampling frame sought a range of older people in terms of age and gender as the expectation was that men and women of different ages might think differently about the messages (Khong, Berlach, Hill, & Hill, ; Stevens et al, ).…”