Judith Metcalf presents at MaineHealth 2015 Collaborative Meeting

Judith A. Metcalf, A.P.R.N., BC, M.S., F.M.G.S., director of the Maine Geriatric Education Center (MGEC) housed in the School of Community and Population Health, was invited to present as part of the MaineHealth 2015 Collaborative Meeting of the MaineHealth Falls Teams Conference on September 30, 2015.

Metcalf presented with colleague Chris Costello, R.N., B.S., C.E.N., nursing director of Emergency Services at Mount Desert Island Hospital, about their collaborative Health Resources and Services Administration-funded 5-year project, the Maine Geriatric Education Center and MDI Hospital Emergency Department (ED) Evidence-Based Practice Falls and Quality of Falls Care Project: “The Journey”. 

This model project included the development of a tailored multifactorial fall risk assessment (MFRA) tool used by staff to assess all community dwelling older adults 65 or older being seen in the ED for a fall or fall-related chief complaint. The MFRA has now become a standard of practice in the ED. Their presentation shared the collaborative journey and partnership between the MGEC and MDI Hospital ED, including historical evolution, development, implementation and evaluation of the MFRA tool; the need to address context in all phases of program development; lessons learned; successes; unintended effects and sustainability. Kurt Lewin’s change theory, “Unfreeze, Movement Toward Change, Refreeze”, was used to describe this 5-year journey.