Care home group creates snakes and ladders style board game to reduce falls

The Orders of St John Care Trust has created a board game for its residents and staff to raise awareness of how to avoid and reduce falls.

The game called Tripology, similar to Snakes and Ladders, was developed by quality improvement lead Vanessa Gail and launched by the Trust in its 65 care homes this October.

Around a third of people aged 65 and over, and around half of people aged 80 and over, fall at least once a year. Poor strength and balance, underlying health issues such as low blood pressure and poor vision, as well as acute infections and poor decision making can all heighten the risk of someone falling.

The board game was devised by Vanessa Gail to support regular falls prevention training she carries out across all the care homes at the Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT).

She said: “I developed this game to complement our training. I’ve really enjoyed seeing it come to life and being played during the pilot.

“Feedback has been very positive, and many residents have found it an engaging activity. I look forward to seeing the impact it has in our homes.”

The aim of the game is to travel across the board, using magnetic counters, to a safe finish. Some squares send the player forward based on actions which prevent a slip, trip or fall, or they are sent backwards for negative actions or taking short cuts in care.

Example instructions are: ‘You used your call bell to request assistance to walk safely’ and ‘You tripped over a box that was left in the corridor’. The board game helps to facilitate discussion about falls preventions and ways to maintain positive health and work practices.

Tripology was created initially as a pilot project as part of a falls prevention campaign, with support and funding from Aviva Insurance Limited. The game aims to reduce the rate of falls in care homes. If evidence shows it has been successful, it may be made available to other care home operators later next year.

Marc Lewis, chief underwriting officer at Aviva said: "The Orders of St John Care Trust came to us with a fun and innovative idea, to benefit their residents, by increasing their awareness of common slip hazards and how to reduce their risk of falls.

“We thought it was a great project that warranted our support through its alignment with our prevention first Risk Management approach. This game has great potential for residents at OSJCT, and we hope, in time for the wider community in reducing accidents."

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