Recipient and instructor perspectives of an adapted exercise-based fall prevention programme for adults aged 50+ years with vision impairment: a qualitative study nested within a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Older adults with vision impairment currently have no access to tailored fall prevention programmes. Therefore, the purpose of this study, nested within an ongoing randomised controlled trial (RCT), is to document the adaptation of an existing fall prevention programme and investigate the perspectives of instructors involved in delivery and the older adults with vision impairment receiving the programme (recipients). DESIGN: We documented programme adaptations and training requirements, and conducted semistructured, individual interviews with both the instructors and the recipients of the programme from 2017 to 2019. The content of each interview was analysed using behaviour change theory through deductive qualitative analysis. SETTING: New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: The 11 trained instructors interviewed were employees of a vision rehabilitation organisation and had delivered at least one programme session as part of the RCT. The 154 recipients interviewed were community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years with vision impairment and no diagnosis of dementia, and had completed their participation in the programme as part of the intervention group of the RCT. RESULTS: Six key themes were identified relating to recipient (delivery aptitude, social norms, habit formation) and instructor (individualised adaptation, complimentary to scope of practice, challenges to delivery) perspectives. With initial training, instructors required minimal ongoing support to deliver the programme and made dynamic adaptations to suit the individual circumstances of each recipient, but cited challenges delivering the number of programme activities required. Recipient perspectives varied; however, most appreciated the delivery of the programme by instructors who understood the impact of vision impairment. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This novel qualitative study demonstrates that the adapted programme, delivered by instructors, who already have expertise delivering individualised programmes to older people with vision impairment, may fill the gap for a fall prevention programme in this population. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12616001186448.

PrevenTing Falls in a high-risk, vision-impaired population through specialist ORientation and Mobility services: protocol for the PlaTFORM randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Older people with vision impairment have significant ongoing morbidity, including risk of falls, but are neglected in fall prevention programmes. PlaTFORM is a pragmatic evaluation of the Lifestyle-integrated Functional Exercise fall prevention programme for older people with vision impairment or blindness (v-LiFE). Implementation and scalability issues will also be investigated. METHODS: PlaTFORM is a single-blinded, randomised trial designed to evaluate the v-LiFE programme compared with usual care. Primary outcomes are fall rate over 12 months, measured using prospective monthly fall calendars, and function and participation assessed by the Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument (Late-Life FDI) Function component. The secondary outcome is rate of falls requiring medical care. Activity-normalised fall rate will be estimated using accelerometer-measured physical activity data. EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level questionnaire will measure quality of life and impact of falls. Health record linkage will estimate resource use associated with falls. v-LiFE cost-effectiveness will be determined compared with usual care. 500 participants (250 per group) can provide 90% power to detect a significant between-group difference in fall rates; 588 will be recruited to allow for drop-out. Falls per person-year and Late-Life FDI will be compared between groups. DISCUSSION: PlaTFORM will determine if falls can be prevented among older people with vision loss through a home-based exercise programme. v-LiFE embeds balance and strength training within everyday activities with the aim of preventing falls. The study will also determine whether the programme can be effectively delivered by personnel who provide Orientation and Mobility training for people with vision impairment. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12616001186448p.