About Action Falls

Action Falls is a comprehensive, personalised intervention to help prevent falls in care homes.

It has been developed and tested over a number of years by a team at the University of Nottingham School of Medicine and wider partners.

Action Falls has been developed and researched with a single motivation: to reduce the number of falls occurring in care homes.

Falls can have a devastating impact on residents and care homes. The wider impact of falls has a high cost to society as 40% of hospital admissions from care homes are due to residents falling. 

Falls are estimated to cost the NHS £2.3 billion per year. The Action Falls programme was shown to reduce falls by 43% in the largest care home study in the UK. 

Let’s work together to change the culture and take action to prevent falls. 

Action Falls is a multi-part programme consisting of:

• • Training: Central to the success of the Action Falls programme is the training and ongoing support provided to care homes by therapists and registered nurses, who are specifically trained as Falls Leads. We now offer a Train the Trainer E-Learning Course through the University of Nottingham Online. Ideally, every member of staff in the care home receives the Action Falls training, as we believe preventing falls is everyone’s business.
  • Support: At Action Falls, we don’t believe that training alone is enough to enact change in complex settings like care homes. After the initial training is completed, your local Action Falls Lead becomes a pillar of support. Ways to keep in touch will vary by local procedures, but someone will be available to answer your questions or concerns.
  • • an optional, but highly encouraged, dedicated Falls Champion within the care home to help support the uptake of Action Falls and to act as a liaison person with the Falls Lead.
  • Resources: As part of the training to use Action Falls, you will receive a care home manual and the Action Falls Checklist. The care home manual includes a useful reference guide on using the checklist as well as support on medication identification and incident reporting. The Action Falls Checklist contains all the information you need to support the holistic assessment of an individual’s risk factors for falling and suggested actions to take.  You will also receive a pocket copy of the React to Falls guide to help with problem solving and an Action Falls awareness poster as a reminder of the importance of falls assessments.