“A home-based program to manage concerns about Falls; Feasibility, effects and costs of a cognitive behavioral approach in community-dwelling, frail older people”

Concerns about falls is a common problem among elderly people living independently and forms a threat to their self-reliance. The group course 'Zicht op Evenwicht' (originally developed in the US under the name A Matter of Balance) has shown to improve people's concerns about falls and their daily functioning, but many elderly people do not finish the course because of health problems. In order to reach these vulnerable elderly people living independently, an individual home version was developed and evaluated in a randomised trial (N=389). The evaluation shows that the individual home course is easy to use, and more effective and cost-effective than regular care. It is therefore recommended that this programme be implemented in regular Dutch healthcare.

Key words: elderly, concern about falls, vulnerability, daily functioning