PA2026. The role of occupational therapists in fall prevention: A cost-effective investment
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Issue/Problem Falls represent a significant public health concern across Europe, particularly among older adults and vulnerable populations. Description of problem According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), by 2050, older people will make-up one-third of the world’s population. The consequences of falls—ranging from physical injury and psychological trauma to increased healthcare service use and loss of independence—place considerable strain on health and social care systems. This abstract outlines a poster presentation that explores the vital role of occupational therapists (OTs) in fall prevention, through a comprehensive literature review. Results Occupational Therapists are uniquely positioned to assess individual risk factors, modify environments, and deliver tailored interventions that reduce fall risk. Through strategies such as home safety assessments and modifications, functional training, and assistive technology recommendations, OTs address both intrinsic and extrinsic contributors to falls. Lessons The poster will synthesise current literature highlighting the efficacy of occupational therapy interventions in reducing fall incidence and severity. In addition, it will present practical examples of economic arguments (from COTEC Member Associations) demonstrating that investment in the prevention of falls though occupational therapy is more cost-effective than managing the sequelae of falls, such as emergency care, hospital admissions, and long-term rehabilitation. Key messages • Occupational therapists play a critical role in preventing falls by delivering personalised, evidence-based interventions that address both individual and environmental risk factor • Investing in occupational therapy for fall prevention is more cost-effective than managing the consequences of falls, offering both clinical and economic benefits to health and social care systems. Topic Fall Prevention, Occupational Therapy, Cost-Effectiveness.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.010 | 0.037 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.006 | 0.004 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.005 |
| Research integrity | 0.007 | 0.005 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.256 | 0.109 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".