'Shimmer Man' by Mr Brian O'Mullane.
Recent preliminary research findings from TRIL (Technology Research for Independent Living) and published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, found that people with a positive attitude were more than twice as likely not to have fallen in the previous twelve months. It also found that older people, who measured high in their ability to pay attention, were 15% less likely to suffer a fall.
For the first time, the possibility of a link between psychological factors and falls has good evidence. Speaking about her research findings, Dr Aisling O'Halloran, Senior Researcher in the Falls Prevention strand of TRIL said "The findings were novel and unanticipated. Now that we know that attention and positive attitude are involved linked with falls risk, this may provide new ways to prevent falls, by changing a person's attitude, and increasing their attention skills".
Falls in older adults are a serious event. 30% of adults over the age of 65 fall each year, 60% of whom fall again within 6 months. At one year follow-up, 20% of frequent fallers are in hospital, in full time care or have died.
The findings were based on an analysis of 556 older Irish adults living in their own homes. TRIL has gathered in-depth and extensive biopsychosocial data on over 600 adults over the age of 60, from all over Ireland. The TRIL Centre is regularly publishing important new medical and scientific findings, with over 40 peer-reviewed articles published in leading national and international journals.
TRIL is a research collaboration between UCD, TCD, Intel Ireland and GE Healthcare. Its research focus in on the problems associated with ageing. The centre harnesses multidisciplinary ageing research, clinical expertise and technology to support independent living. For more information about the TRIL centre research visit www.trilcentre.org
