Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Falls are the #1 cause of injuries to older adults, people aged 65+, in Canada. Each year, thousands of older adults lose their lives after a fall, and thousands more are admitted to hospital with serious injuries. Falls are the top cause of concussions in older adults. A concussion is a type of brain injury that can affect a person in many ways, for example, dizziness, headaches, memory problems, and trouble with walking and balance. For older adults, these symptoms may not be noticed, especially if the person already has balance problems, are on certain medications, or has dementia, thus older adults might not get checked for a concussion and get the care they need to heal from their injury. Older adults experience concussion in a different way, often take longer to heal, and have their own unique concerns and hopes for their recovery compared to younger ages. There are guidelines and tools used by healthcare providers to assess and diagnose a concussion, and to manage recovery. There are guidelines for children and adults, but no specific information for when their patient is an older adult. This project will help understand more about what healthcare providers, older adults, and their families/caregivers need to better address fall-related concussions. We will have a virtual meeting with 30 people from across Canada. We will invite a variety of participants: healthcare professionals (such as doctors, occupational therapists), organizations that work with older adults, researchers, and older adults themselves. We will ask participants about what they need to know and what tools would help them. We will also discuss with participants what we can do together to move forward and prioritize these actions. After the meeting, we will write a report about what we learned and ask participants to provide feedback. When the report is complete, we will share it with groups that would be interested in the information,with the goal to inform and improve care for older adults.