The effectiveness of multimedia combined with teach-back method on the level of knowledge, confidence and behavior of professional caregivers in preventing falls in elderly patients: A randomized non-blind controlled clinical study

Abstract

Background: Teach-back is a teaching method that can quickly improve the acknowledge of target audience and change their behaviors effectively. However, this approach has not been reported in previous studies that were dedicated to reducing the incidence of falls in elderly inpatients. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the teach-back method for improving the knowledge, confidence, and behaviors (KCB) of professional caregivers on the fall prevention in elderly inpatients and to provide practical evidence for reducing the incidence of falls. Methods: This is a prospective study. At the recruitment, the demographic data of the professional caregivers were completely collected. Questionnaire about KCB of professional caregivers on fall prevention in elderly inpatients was used as an assessment scale, and the differences between the scores were analyzed. At the end of the study, the fall rate of the patients cared by different groups was counted and analyzed. Results: A total of 100 professional caregivers were recruited, all of which participated in the whole study process. There was no statistical differences in demographic data. Three or six months after the courses, the knowledge scores, confidence scores, and behavior scores of the two groups were significantly improved, and the observation group scores were significantly higher than it was in the control group ( P < .05). During the study period, the incidence of falls in the observation group was 1.32%, while it was 0.30% in the control group ( P < .05). Conclusion: Teach-back method can rapidly improve KCB of professional caregivers about fall prevention in elderly inpatients, which is worthy of clinical practice.