Guidelines for Managing Falls Among Elderly People

Falling among elderly people is recognised as a serious problem for the health services as well as for elderly people's welfare. Nevertheless, the rehabilitative management, as opposed to the medical management, has received little systematic attention. We describe the ‘Guidelines for the Collaborative Rehabilitative Management of Elderly People who have Fallen’. They have been drawn up and endorsed by three organisations of specialist rehabilitation clinicians. A national audit of the implementation of these guidelines is taking place, funded by the NHS Executive.