Selecting And Tailoring Implementation Strategies For Deimplementing Fall Prevention Alarms In Us Hospitals: A Group Concept Mapping Study

Many hospitals use fall prevention alarms, despite the limited evidence of effectiveness. The objectives of this study were (1) to identify, conceptualise and select strategies to deimplement fall prevention alarms and (2) to obtain feedback from key stakeholders on tailoring selected deimplementation strategies for the local hospital context.

Hospital staff working on fall prevention participated in group concept mapping (GCM) to brainstorm strategies that could be used for fall prevention alarm deimplementation, sort statements into conceptually similar categories and rate statements based on importance and current use. Hospital staff also participated in site-specific focus groups to discuss current fall prevention practices, strategies prioritised through GCM and theory-informed strategies recommended by the study team, and potential barriers/facilitators to deimplementing fall prevention alarms.

90 hospital staff across 13 hospitals brainstormed, rated and sorted strategies for alarm deimplementation. Strategies that were rated as highly important but underutilised included creating/revising staff roles to support fall prevention (eg, hiring or designating mobility technicians) and revising policies and procedures to encourage tailored rather than universal fall precautions. 192 hospital staff across 22 hospitals participated in site-specific focus groups. Participants provided feedback on each strategy’s relevance for their site (eg, if site currently has a mobility technician) and local barriers or facilitators (eg, importance of having separate champions for day and night shift). Findings were used to develop a tailored implementation package for each site that included a core set of strategies (eg, external facilitation, education, audit-and-feedback, champions), a select set of site-specific strategies (eg, designating a mobility technician to support fall prevention) and guidance for how to operationalise and implement each strategy given local barriers and facilitators.

Findings from this study can be used to inform future programmes and policies aimed at deimplementing fall prevention alarms in hospitals.