University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
This project will test the effectiveness of a novel intervention consisting of unobtrusive, low-intensity, horizontal and vertical lights that outline the bathroom or entry way doorframe in residents' rooms and provide visual cues to promote postural stability. Specifically, this pragmatic crossover trial will enroll 335 assisted living residents with dementia and follow them for one year, comparing the incidence of nighttime falls during the lighting condition to the incidence of falls during the control condition; secondarily, it will determine whether and to what extent the intervention effect is modified by resident- and environmental-level risk factors, and satisfaction with the lighting system.
Falls are the primary cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries among persons 65 years of age and older. Dementia is a major risk factors for falls, and assisted living (AL) communities are the primary provider of residential care for ambulatory older adults with dementia, making AL a critical setting in which to reduce falls. Forty-two percent of the more than 811,000 AL residents across the U.S. have moderate or severe dementia, 84% are ambulatory, and more than a third experience a fall in a six-month period, putting them among the 15% of AL residents who suffer a hip fracture or other serious…
Inclusion Criteria: * Has a diagnosis of dementia * Lives in a participating AL community * Not blind * Not on hospice and in a worsening state * Not expected to die or transfer during the next 6 months * Reside in a private room; or reside in a shared room if 1. one resident is male and one is female and both are participating in the project, or 2. they are of any gender, as long as there is a wall divider between their bedrooms * Do not have an overnight sitter in the room every night Exclusion Criteria: • None
Horizontal and vertical lights over a doorway visible from the bed
Standard night light plugged into wall socket
Arctuva estimate
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