Upskilling Allied Health Professionals and Judo Coaches to Teach Safe Falling Skills to Older Adults: A Train-the-Trainer Intervention.

Abstract

Objectives: Learning safe falling skills, adapted from judo, is a promising strategy to reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries in older adults. This study aimed to upskill allied health professionals and judo coaches to teach safe falling skills to community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: A Train-the-Trainer program including a 2-day workshop (13 h) on teaching safe falling and how to work with older adults, followed by weekly attendance at an 8-week judo-based safe falling program for older adults to provide practical teaching experience. Outcomes included perceived competence and importance in teaching safe falling (6-point Likert Scale), objective knowledge (10 multiple-choice questions) and trainees' own safe falling skills (Strömqvist-Bååthe Falling Competence (SBFC) Test) assessed at three time points: pre-workshop (T1), post-workshop (T2) and post 8-week practical sessions (T3).

Results: Sixteen trainees (eight allied health professionals and eight judo coaches) participated (median age 50 years [IQR: 42-61], 38% female). Perceived competence, objective knowledge and safe falling skills improved significantly after the workshop (T2, p < 0.05) and remained high after the practical sessions (T3) when compared to T1. Perceived importance improved after the full Train-the-Trainer program (T3, p = 0.02). Judo coaches scored higher overall in safe falling (p = 0.01) than allied health professionals, but both groups demonstrated similar improvements over time (p = 0.08).

Conclusions: Improvements in perceived competence, knowledge and safe falling were observed among allied health professionals and judo coaches, with most gains occurring after the 2-day workshop. This Train-the-Trainer program may support broader implementation of safe falling training across community and clinical settings.