Help Preventing Falls:

If you are looking for general information on how to prevent falls this is the page for you. Researchers at the University of Manchester have conducted a study examining the quality of websites offering falls related information to members of the public and their families. More information on how this study was carried out is available after the following three sites that are recommended by ProFaNE:

The Cornwall Falls Prevention Project contains comprehensive advice on falls, including how to decide if you are at risk, what you can do to help yourself etc.... The web site also tells you what to do in an emergency and has links to other useful websites. Extra information is available on events that are to take place in Cornwall - handy if you happen to live there. The layout is clear and easy to navigate and it is suitable for low speed internet connections.

Cornwall Falls Prevention - www.fallsprevention.co.uk

The Buckinghamshire Falls and Fracture Prevention website is funded by the NHS and is intended for both the public and professionals. Information is available on the consequences of falling, danger signs etc. There is also an extensive section promoting physical activity. Like the Cornwall Falls Prevention Project there is also information on local Buckinghamshire events and a section of useful links. The areas aimed at professionals contain information about things like diet, medication etc.

Buckinghamshire Falls and Fracture Prevention - http://www.buckinghamshirefallsprevention.co.uk/

This website provides information for older people, their families and their carers. The site has been designed to be as easy to use as possible and covers a variety of topics as well as falls, both health and lifestyle related. The falls information is comprehensive and deals with risk factors, helping yourself, what to do if you fall etc...

Waltham Forest Older People's Collaborative - http://www.wfolderpeople.com/

Information About This Study:

Researchers at the University of Manchester have conducted a study examining the quality of websites offering falls related information to members of the public and their families. Searching the internet using terms related to falls, falls prevention, and balance, we identified 37 websites that were subsequently reviewed. Each website was assessed on three main categories:

1. Coverage of falls related information - how accurately the websites covered information relating to falls risk factors, how to prevent falls, and what to do if you have a fall. These items were assessed using the most up to date information about falls from the NICE Guidelines (2004) and the Cochrane Review on Interventions for Preventing Falls in Elderly People (2003).

2. Credibility - whether the websites provided information regarding the author of the pages, the intended audience, confidentiality, funding sources, and advertising policy. These items were assessed in line with the Health on the Net Code of Conduct for medical and health websites.

3. Senior friendliness of the website - how easy the pages were to read, how clearly the information is presented, how easy sites are to navigate, whether use of other media such as photographs of videos was carefully thought out. These items were assessed using the guidelines laid out by the National Institute on Aging on Making your website senior friendly.

The three websites we present above are those that scored the best overall in this exercise. Each presents comprehensive, up to date information on falls, and is well laid out and easy to use.

The websites here are all in the English language as none of the team conducting the study speaks any other languages. If you know of any websites in other languages that you think are especially good, please send them on to us and we will consider including them in this list of recommended sites.

This study was undertaken by Sarah Whitehead, Dawn Skelton and Chris Todd.