Professor Ngaire Kerse, Dr Shankar Sankaran and Gill Hall discuss how to reduce falls injuries and serious harm falls and fractures, improve recovery (in hospital and home) and their thoughts on how to develop an integrated fall and fracture system.
Our population is both ageing and living longer, yet the risk of falling increases with age. The burden that falls and falls-related injuries impose on an older person, their family/whanāu, carer, health services and the national economy can be severe.
By helping to prevent a significant proportion of these falls, we can reduce falls-related costs, the number of falls-related injuries (such as fractures and head injuries), and psychological impacts.
Resources
- Live stronger for longer website Advice to prevent falls and fractures
- Osteoporosis New Zealand
- Health Quality & Safety Commission NZ website - Reducing harm from falls
Presenter
Professor Ngaire Kerse
Prof. Ngaire Kerse
Ngaire is a GP and Professor at the University of Auckland School of Population Health. She has been active in falls prevention research for two decades and is a member of the Cochrane review group for falls and injury in care homes.
Presenter
Dr Shankar Sankaran
Shankar is passionate about improving the health of older people in New Zealand. His previous positions include Ministry of Health Chief Advisor for Health of older people, Health Quality and Safety Commission Reducing Harm from Falls Expert Advisory Group Chair and various roles in professional organisations related to Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. Dr Sankaran currently provides clinical advisory support to the cross sector initiative on Falls and Fragility Fracture Prevention in New Zealand Older People and he’s a key clinical champion for the Australia and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry.
Presenter
Gill Hall
Gill has spent 30 years working in the health sector in both the UK and NZ. Prior to joining Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) in 2001 she worked at the University of Otago as a clinical teaching fellow in the School of Physiotherapy, and before that at the University of Birmingham NHS Trust in the UK. She’s held various roles related to clinical physiotherapy, research and rehabilitation practice.
Her current role is to lead ACC’s contribution to a national programme improving services for older people – falls and fracture prevention and rehabilitation.
