Preventing Falls and Addressing Fear of Falling in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Evidence From a Network Meta-Analysis and a Floor-Rise Training Trial

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with older adults living in the community, in outpatient, home health, community wellness and falls-prevention settings.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is built on two peer-reviewed sources, each named wherever its findings appear.

Pillay J, Gaudet LA, Saba S, Vandermeer B, Ashiq AR, Wingert A, Hartling L. Falls prevention interventions for community-dwelling older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of benefits, harms, and patient values and preferences. Syst Rev. 2024;13(1):289. doi:10.1186/s13643-024-02681-3

Seeley SC, Skelton DA, Tan CW, Stansfield B, Dall PM. Comparing the impact of active floor-rise training with video demonstration on fear of falling and independent floor-rise ability in older adults living in the community: a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. Age Ageing. 2026;55(3). doi:10.1093/ageing/afag064

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Name the intervention types the Pillay systematic review and meta-analysis identified as having the most certain evidence for reducing falls in community-dwelling older adults, and the types that did not.
2. State what the Seeley pilot cluster randomized trial found for fear of falling, floor-rise ability and perceived ability to manage a fall after brief floor-rise training.
3. Explain how the two sources differ in what they measured and concluded, and describe what each reported about the relationship between physical capability and fear of falling.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast Overview (about 25 minutes)
3. Why Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults Were Reviewed
4. Who Was Studied and How the Networks Were Built
5. Which Interventions Carried the Most Certain Evidence for Benefit
6. Where the Review Found Harm, Uncertainty and Missing Data
7. What Older Adults Said Mattered Most and What They Preferred
8. What the Review's Authors Concluded for Primary Care
9. Getting Up From the Floor: Why the Pilot Trial Was Run
10. Who Took Part and How Floor-Rise Training Was Delivered
11. What Changed: Floor-Rise Ability, Confidence and Fear
12. Limits of a Small Pilot Trial in Experienced Exercisers
13. Where the Two Papers Agree on Falls and Function
14. Where They Diverge: Preventing a Fall Versus Fearing One
15. Carrying Both Findings to the Treatment Table
16. What Neither Paper Settled
17. Key Takeaways
18. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 1.0 contact hour (60 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Pillay J, Gaudet LA, Saba S, Vandermeer B, Ashiq AR, Wingert A, Hartling L. Falls prevention interventions for community-dwelling older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of benefits, harms, and patient values and preferences. Syst Rev. 2024;13(1):289. doi:10.1186/s13643-024-02681-3
2. Seeley SC, Skelton DA, Tan CW, Stansfield B, Dall PM. Comparing the impact of active floor-rise training with video demonstration on fear of falling and independent floor-rise ability in older adults living in the community: a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. Age Ageing. 2026;55(3). doi:10.1093/ageing/afag064