People with intellectual disability have been shown to have high rates of falls, yet little previous research has focussed on understanding the causes or factors associated with falls in this group.
In collaboration with research at Monash University, a literature review into falls risk assessment and interventions to reduce falls in people with intellectual disability has been conducted. The review provided recommendations and informed Scope's efforts to reduce falls risk among clients.
A separate project is also being conducted to identify and explore falls risk factors with residents with intellectual disability living in group homes and pilot the use of a falls risk assessment screening tool with people with intellectual disability. This project is a collaboration between Monash University, Scope and the University of Otago.
The research highlighted the complex nature of falls prevention for people with intellectual disability and makes many important recommendations to improve identification and management of falls risk for people with intellectual disabilities living in group homes.