Occupational therapist's actions in preventing falls of the elderly person at home: an integrative review of literature (2017-2022)

Abstract

Introduction: Falls in the elderly are widely discussed by health professionals, due to their physical, functional, and psychosocial consequences, which compromise participation in daily activities. Objective: To identify the intervention actions and strategies used by the occupational therapist to prevent falls in the elderly at home. Method: This is an integrative literature review, which tracked the scientific productions in the Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and Embase databases, in the period of January 2017 to July 2022. Results: 19 publications were identified that made up the research corpus, being categorized for analysis in the following points: assessments used by the occupational therapist and the occupational therapist's actions for the prevention of falls, including functional training integrated into daily activities, home environmental adequacy interventions, educational actions and use of technologies and devices. Conclusion: The home is the most prone place for the occurrence of falls in the elderly, where the actions of the occupational therapist are significantly important for the maintenance of safety in this context. The occupational therapist's actions contribute to the prevention of falls and maintaining the safety of the elderly at home. In addition, it was noted the incipience of national studies of occupational therapy on the subject, which shows the need to expand the publications of the profession in this field of action.