Through data and risk analysis, Arvada Fire found that they were not much different than other agencies within the State of Colorado and also the country and that although a true pandemic was about to take place, there was an epidemic of falls happening within their community and to older adults in general.
Data showed that of the roughly 16,000 calls of service that Arvada Fire ran in 2018, 85 percent of those calls were medical in nature and 25 percent accounted for falls in adults 65 and older. In early 2019 Arvada Fire teamed up with a local hospital partner and Nymbl to provide a pilot program to an Older Adult living community that was experiencing a large amount of falls. With the implementation of Nymbl into this community we were able to see a 35 percent decrease in falls over a 6 month time to that location.
With COVID-19, Arvada Fire, just as others in the country, were found in unfamiliar territory and unable to provide education and outreach to those in need. However, we continued to see and respond to calls for service including falls. Being that we were unable to get into the community, Arvada Fire partnered directly with Nymbl and provided an opportunity for our community to sign up for Nymbl and reap the benefits of the program from the safety of their home.
Nymbl is a fall prevention program that can be done in the privacy of the users own home. The app is designed to better connect the mind and body, so reflexive balance is stronger creating the ability for older adults to catch themselves when they start to fall. Reflexive balance starts to decline as we age and the Nymbl app is designed to counteract this process of aging. Having Nymbl in the hands of older adults in more communities will not only help the older adults who are falling, but it could also have a great impact in a decline of fall related calls for fire agencies. Collaboration between Nymbl and fire agencies is a natural fit for fall prevention as a CRR tool!
We would like to share our story of implementation and success and showcase the remarkable difference that Nymbl has made within our community.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, the participant will be understand the benefits of implementing a fall prevention program such as Nymbl within their community and how Nymbl differs from other fall prevention programs.
Upon completion, the participant will be describe and perform the initial steps that are necessary to implement Nymbl within their community and the benefits it will have for their organization.
