Table 2.

Translation of Efficacy‐Based Fall Prevention Interventions into Clinical and Community Practice: Summary of Challenges and Possible Solutions

Challenges	Solutions
The limited number of exercise‐based fall prevention interventions, which limits broad dissemination to at‐risk older adults	Funding support for effectiveness trials that focus on translating and disseminating evidence‐based interventions, with specific attention to population at risk, mode of intervention, delivery methods, outcome evaluation, and settings where healthcare or preventive services are routinely delivered
Current clinical guidelines and public health recommendations lack: provision of specific exercises appropriate for people at various levels of risk for falling guidance on linking older adults with known fall risk factors to the optimal evidence‐based exercise specific interventions community resources where targeted older adults can be referred and receive an appropriate intervention	Develop selective preventive interventions that target individuals at higher risk of falling Increase clinical and community awareness of available tools (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention STEADI) that facilitate adoption of evidence‐based fall prevention interventions; increase access to national and local resources (e.g., National Council on Aging) designed to increase fall prevention efforts Develop streamlined systems that link referrals of at‐risk individuals directly into community‐based interventions delivered by reliable community service providers
Limited adoption of guidelines by healthcare providers (lack of time, training opportunities, financial incentives, clinical coordination)	Increased promotion of STEADI‐type tools that integrate the American Geriatrics Society/British Geriatrics Society guideline and are easy to use in clinical practice Provide fall prevention training opportunities for clinicians Provide resources for implementing evidence‐based interventions available to clinicians Establish a reward system that provides incentives to clinicians to conduct fall risk assessment and link patients to local community‐based interventions
Limited number of comprehensive community‐based fall prevention programs currently available	Provide staff training on fall prevention interventions; encourage integration of evidence‐based programs into fall prevention services Provide sufficient funds to establish community infrastructure to implement evidence‐based interventions Develop turnkey packages for community stakeholders
Lack of communication between healthcare providers and community service providers Lack of integrated fall prevention healthcare systems that link clinical referrals to evidence‐based community interventions	Engage partnerships and relationships between clinicians, health insurers, and community service providers to fill gaps in converting evidence‐based fall prevention interventions into practice Establish a clinical‐community linkage system (Figure 1)

STEADI = Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries.