Falls Prevention from a System Dynamical Point of View

摘要

Falls are a serious problem for older adults, often causing severe injuries leading to loss of independence and high cost. Although a great effort has already been put into research on falls, the situation concerning the prediction and prevention is unsatisfactory from a practical point of view. A small interdisciplinary team attempted to address the issue in a holistic view using a system dynamics based approach. A simple model which enables the simulation of commonly observed circumstances was developed based on consultations with experts,. This leads us to the assumption that the limited success of research up to now is caused by the fact that common approaches currently in use are not sufficient to accommodate the complexity of the underlying problem. A system dynamics approach is assumed to cope much better with this challenge and to lead to better predictions and case specific interventions.