Prevenção de quedas em pessoas idosas: um instrumento de avaliação do ambiente domiciliar

Abstract

The study addresses the prevention of falls in older people, their risk factors and consequences in a literature review. The objective was to support the development of an instrument for the assessment of home environment where the elderly live, to be used by practitioners of the Family Health Team during home visits. In the review it was evident that Brazil follows the global trend and is in the aging process today with some 17.6 million older adults. Falls can be considered a public health problem in the community and with the aging population, now has pride of place among the causes of hospital admissions, mortality and disability in the elderly. The literature shows that about one third of elderly people suffer falls in years and the consequences range from loss of autonomy, depression, isolation, neurological damage, rearranging family, asylum beyond the increased cost in their care and more time spent by professionals its follow-up after the event occurs. The causes of falls may be due to intrinsic or extrinsic factors or combination of both. A means of assessing home-style "checklist" for evaluating the environment where the elderly live to correct and minimize the risk of falls. The implementation of this instrument will facilitate the assessment and contribute to the diagnosis of environmental factors enabling the team to direct its guidelines to family, caregivers and seniors about preventive and consequently thereby decreasing the occurrence of falls.