Translation of a Falls Prevention Behavioral Intervention for Family Caregiver Administration

FallsTalk is a one-month evidence-based falls prevention (FP) program that focuses attention on causes of an individual’s falls and encourages new FP behaviors. We translated the program for family caregivers of persons with cognitive impairment or dementia (PwCID) to administer to the PwCID and examined the number of new FP behaviors (#newFPBs) reported during the intervention period by the Caregiver. Thirty-four Dyads (Caregiver+PwCID) were trained to conduct brief daily FP discussions together using paper (FTCGnoTech) or computerized (FTCGTech, n=20) guidance. Dyads had FallsTalk training, daily discussions and weekly check-in calls. FTCGTech included discussion suggestions tailored to Caregiver concerns. To examine the use of technology, Poisson regression models compared #newFPBs between FTCGnoTech and FTCGTech and included covariates age (=80), Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE >25 or