Fractures pose a significant burden on health, quality of life, and mortality of older adults in long term care (LTC) and contribute to high health care costs. PREVENT (Person-centred Routine Fracture PreEVENTion) is a scalable model for delivering routine assessments and interventions on diet and supplements, multifactorial fall and fracture prevention strategies, and medications to long term care teams to treat residents at high risk of fracture. The purpose of the iCARE study is to create a fall and fracture educational program (i.e., PREVENT) for LTC healthcare providers to deliver routine assessments for the management and treatment of osteoporosis. The benefit of such a guide may help to reduce the devastating impact of fractures in older adults residing in LTC homes. The aim of this pilot study is to: 1) determine feasibility and 2) adaptations through facilitators and barriers. Before a larger trial can be implemented to determine the effectiveness of the PREVENT Program in practice, the iCARE study seeks to determine the feasibility of implementing PREVENT in practice and identify strategies to tailor the program to the individual long term care home and care team through design thinking solutions.
A large proportion of older adults living in long term care homes are frail and have osteoporosis. With age, there is a gradual and progressive decline in bone quality and quantity and an increase in frailty, which is associated with increased fracture risk. Additionally, fractures pose a significant burden to the health and quality of life of long term care residents and contribute to high healthcare costs. Despite the high prevalence of osteoporosis, falls, and fractures in long term care, the management of osteoporosis is not optimal among long term care residents at risk of fracture. The aim of this study is to co-design a service provision (i.e., PREVENT - Person-centred Routine Fracture PreEVENTion) with healthcare providers in long term care and to determine the feasibility of implementing PREVENT in long term care settings.