Stay on Your Feet (SOYF)

Click on the relevant reports, resources and publications for more information.

Program/Project	Stay on Your Feet (SOYF)
Period/Length	Four years
Aim	To improve the health and well-being of older residents of the North Coast Region; To reduce by 10% the projected number of falls and consequent injuries among older North Coast residents.
Year	1992-1997
Target Group	People 60 years of age and over, in moderately good health and living independently in the community.
Reach	Residents of the North Coast of NSW
Locations	North Coast of NSW
Partners
Funding
Contact	NNSWLHD-HealthPromotion@health.nsw.gov.au
Full Report	Stay On Your Feet Final Report 1992-1997
Resources
More Information	See below
Publications	Garner E, Kempton A, van Beurden E. Strategies to prevent falls: The Stay On Your Feet Programme. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1996;6(3):37-43 Meeting the challenge of falls prevention at population level: a community based intervention with older people in Australia (1996) van Beurden E, Kempton A, Sladden T, Garner E. Evaluating multi-strategic falls prevention in the community: design of the North Coast Stay On Your Feet Programme. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1998;22(1):115-119 Older people can stay on their feet: final results community based falls prevention programme (2000) Barnett L, van Beurden E, Eakin E, Dietrich U, Beard J, NewmanB. Falls prevention in rural General Practice. What stands the test of time and where to from here? Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2003;3(27):481-485 Population approach to falls injury prevention in older people: findings two community trial (2009)

What strategies were used?

Stay of your feet was implemented along five strategy lines: Raising awareness of the problem of falls and dissemination of information on falls prevention; community education; developing falls-prevention policies; home hazard reduction; and working with health professionals. These major strategies were phased in over the life of the programme and each encompassed numerous activities.

What were the program outcomes?

SOYF was a successful intervention on a number of levels:

During the intervention period – There has been a 22% reduction in self-reported falls among the target population, a result that surpasses the original goal of a 10% reduction.
At follow-up – The hospital admission rate for falls-related injuries was 20% lower in the target population as compared to a comparable control population.
As a result of – This significantly lower rate of falls-related admissions, there has been a substantial saving to the health system
The programme has raised the awareness of older people regarding the risk of falling, improved their perceptions in relation to the preventability of falls and increased their knowledge of risk factors
There have been important behaviour changes in the target group, particularly an increase in the wearing of safer shoes, greater activity directed to improving balance and decreased use of medications having fall-related side effects
The programme has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge about falls prevention

Stay on Your Feet has demonstrated that a well planned, well executed and comprehensively monitored and evaluated community intervention to reduce falls can achieve measurable gains in both intermediate and health outcomes.

Stay on Your Feet (SOYF)

What strategies were used?

What were the program outcomes?

Program Reports