Fall Prevention: Curriculum for Community Health Workers/Promotores

One out of three adults ages 65+ older fall each year, and falls are the leading cause of injury death in this age group (National Council on Aging & Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, 2010). Community Health Workers/Promotores (CHWs/Ps) are frontline public health workers who have the unique opportunity to work with older adults to reduce risk factors for falling and prevent injury due to falls. To equip CHWs/Ps in fall prevention, the Center for Community Health Development’s National CHW Training Center at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Prevention Research Center developed an in-person and online curriculum for CHWs/Ps and CHW/P instructors.

There are two free, self-paced online training courses available:

In-person trainings are also available. Please contact the center for more information.

Curriculum Objectives

Objectives for the curriculum include increasing CHW/P skills to help older adults reduce fall and injury risk factors, including being able to the following:

• Explain that falls are not a normal part of aging and the majority of falls are preventable
• Articulate why preventing and reducing falls and related injuries among older people is especially important
• Increase awareness of risk factors for falling inside and outside the home
• Develop and augment observation, reporting, and communication skills to improve communication with older adults and their families around fall prevention
• Describe ways to help prevent or manage falls in older adults
• Develop fall prevention plans
• Explain and discuss different approaches to changing health behaviors
• Apply behavior change strategies to fall prevention and reduction
• Teach health behavior change strategies to CHW/P and older adults

This curriculum reinforces and supplements basic competencies recognized by the Texas Department of State Health Services CHW/P Training and Certification Program: communication, teaching, advocacy, interpersonal skills, service coordination, capacity building, organization, and knowledge-based skills.

For more information about the training, curriculum, or in-person trainings, please contact:
Katharine Nimmons, 979-845-6462, CHW-Training@sph.tamhsc.edu

For more information about state-wide fall prevention activities and resources, contact the Texas Falls Prevention Coalition at http://fallsfreetexas.org.

*This course requires online pre-registration; there may be up to a 48-hour window after registration before users can start the course.

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prevention Research Center, Special Interest Project© Copyright 2013 by the Center for Community Health Development, National Community Health Worker Training Center and Program on Healthy Aging, Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System.