Abstract for: Community-based Public Health Interventions: A dynamic model for falls prevention programs in reducing falls among older adults

As the global population continues to age, there is an urgent need for population health interventions to address the unique challenges and health issues faced by older adults. The focus is moving towards promoting healthy aging and preventing chronic disease. Falls among older adults are a result of complex and interrelated risk factors, resulting in adverse consequences. While multi-component falls prevention programmes demonstrate evidence in reducing falls, the implementation of such programmes remains challenging. This is particularly so in Singapore, where the scaling up of such programmes into the community have yet to be successful. Such challenges are due to the complex and dynamic nature of falls and implementation. Thus, this study aims to: (i) describe a System Dynamics (SD) model of falls prevention by simulating the current reality reflected in the CLD of falls and proposed leverage points for interventions among older adults in Singapore; and (ii) apply the simulation model to estimate the impacts of proposed implementation strategies. With these estimates, this study will provide insight into how to optimize the reach and impact of community-based falls prevention strategies for older adults.