A Matter of Balance Fall Prevention Program Delivery to Underserved Populations

Purpose: Falls are the leading cause of injuries in older adults. A Matter of Balance (AMOB) is a national evidence-based fall prevention program. However, there is a lack of implementation to underserved populations. This study investigates the impact of cross-sector partnership delivery of AMOB on 1) access to serve underserved older adults in Tarrant County, Texas and 2) older adults' confidence in their ability to manage falls. Methods: Area Agency on Aging, Sixty and Better, University of North Texas Health Science Center, and Medstar collaborated to deliver AMOB in Tarrant County zip codes with the most emergency calls for falls in older adults. 354 older adults voluntarily participated and were surveyed for demographics and self-rated confidence in their ability to manage falls using the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES). Results: The average age was 78 ± 8.33 and most participants were female and white non-Hispanic. 49% of the programs were in hotspot zip codes and 31% of the participants were from hotspot zip codes. 53% of the participants completed the program and 48% of those who did not complete was due to COVID-19. Confidence in managing falls (t=-8.222, p< 0.001) increased significantly with program completion. Conclusions: AMOB was effective in increasing confidence in managing falls for individuals who completed the program. Using zip code data is helpful in planning outreach, but less than half of the participants were in the desired areas. To address access barriers, stakeholder groups that represent underserved communities should be included.