Date: March 22, 2018

Featuring:

• ​Mary Tinetti, MD, Gladys Phillips Crofoot Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics) and Professor, Institution for Social and Policy Studies; Section Chief, Geriatrics (co-chair)
• Marie Cleary-Fishman, BSN, MS, MBA, CPHQ, CPPS, CHCQM, Vice President, Clinical Quality, Health Research & Educational Trust (AHA)
• J. Michelle Moccia, DNP, ANP-BC, CCRN, Program Director, Senior Emergency Center, St. Mary Mercy Hospital (Trinity Health)
• Belinda Dokic, CPht, BA, MBA, Quality Performance Improvement Leader, St. Mary Mercy Hospital (Trinity Health) 

Preventing injuries from falls, especially among the elderly, has been a flagship issue for health care quality improvement and patient safety for nearly two decades. The complications that can follow broken bones at an advanced age, most notably a broken hip, can literally be deadly. This reality, numerous programs, and reporting requirements have kept falls prevention front and center across the health care continuum.

Now a new initiative wants to emphasize the physical and mental health benefits of mobility, and encourage greater mobility for older patients in conjunction with falls prevention, as part of a broadening vision of "age-friendly" care​. We explored what this looks like in practice, starting with the hospital setting, on the March 22 WIHI.