Falls Risk and Nutrition Research at Vermont State University

Identifying the Needs of Community-Dwelling Older Adults to Decrease Fall and Malnutrition Risk

This study is an investigation of how communities can support older adults living at home, to decrease fall risk and improve nutrition status.

You are Eligible if you…

• …are age 60 or older
• …live in Maine or New Hampshire year round

What’s Required?

• Fill out an online survey two times – now and 6 months from now.
• You can also participate in a group conversation about what your community can do to ensure older adults in New England can continue to be healthy and safe living in their homes. This conversation may take up to 2 hours. You do not need to agree to the group conversation to fill out the online survey.

What are the Benefits?

• Contribute to our understanding of the relationship between fall risk and nutrition status in older New Englanders
• Group conversation participants receive a $50 gift card.

What Have We Learned so Far? From a Survey of Over 700 Community-Dwelling Older Vermonters:

• 72% report living in rural regions of the state
• 53% have an elevated fall risk
• 42% had a fall in the past 6 months
• 55% are at nutrition risk
• We found a significant relationship between:
  • Fall risk and food insecurity
  • Fall risk and malnutrition risk
  • Food insecurity and malnutrition risk
• Increased nutrition risk was associated with the occurrence of a fall over the next 6 months
• Results from this work in Vermont were published in the Journal of Aging and Health and the Journal of Applied Gerontology

Results From this Work in Vermont Were Published in the Journal of Aging and Health and the Journal of Applied Gerontology