Building off the long-term success of the Stay On Your Feet® program, during the 2024/25 financial year Injury Matters delivered a variety of activities in working to reduce falls and falls-related injuries among older adults living in the community. Funded by the WA Department of Health, innovative resources, presentations, events, training opportunities and a networking group were offered to community members and health professionals.
Injury Matters engaged the UWA Centre for Social Impact to evaluate the impact of the Stay On Your Feet® program on older adults and health care professionals. In early 2025, data was collated via an online survey and CATI for older adult program participants (n=297), an online survey for older adults who had not engaged in the program (n=111) and an online survey for health professionals (n=134).
A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the evaluation of the Stay On Your Feet® program. The evaluation is an important part of the program, with feedback used to improve content and delivery.
Older adult respondents
Almost all of the older adult program participants (98%) recalled actively engaging in the Stay On Your Feet® program and were more aware of falls prevention since their involvement (87% of program participants agreed that falls were preventable). In comparison to people who had not participated in the program, older adult program participants were more likely to be able to recall the risk factors for falling, recall factors that contribute to healthy ageing and were in agreement that falls are preventable.
Overall, older adult program participants reported that they would recommend Stay On Your Feet® for falls information to someone in close proximity (90%) and that they were satisfied with the program (83%).
Health professional respondents
Most health professionals recalled both positive and active engagement with the Stay On Your Feet® program. Health professionals had high levels of knowledge around reducing modifiable risk factors that contributed to falls (94%), were confident discussing falls prevention strategies (91%) and reported intention to implement strategies gained from the Stay On Your Feet® program with their older adult clients (91%).
Similarly to older adult program participants, health professionals were satisfied with the program (90%), ranked the program highly (87%) and reported that the program met their needs (91%).
Recommendations
Recommendations provided for improving the program included:
- Expanding message promotion in the community using both individual and community-based approaches.
- Expanding training and outreach for health professionals with a focus on face-to-face workshops and increased engagement in regional and rural areas.
- Reassess resources and networks for health care professionals, to ensure maximum impact.
The external evaluation concluded that the Stay On Your Feet® program has effectively increased awareness of falls prevention in older adults and has played a vital role in addressing the high incidence of falls in the WA community. The evaluation findings indicate strong engagement with older adults and most health professionals, demonstrating increased awareness, knowledge, and intention to act on fall prevention practices.
Learn how you can get involved in future Stay On Your Feet® program activities by signing up to the monthly Stay On Your Feet® eNews below, registering for an upcoming training event or contact Injury Matters on 6166 7688.