Falls prevention is recognized as an international priority, and residents of long-term care are at the highest risk of falls. This presentation will describe an award-winning Australian trial that examined an exercise program (The Sunbeam Program) versus usual care and demonstrated a 55% reduction in falls and statistically significant improvement in functional mobility in favor of the exercise. In 2019 the “Sunbeam Trial” won the Morley Award from the Journal of the American Medical Directors’ Association for the paper most likely to influence policy and practice. The program has subsequently been scaled across Australia as Government Policy has evolved to permit widespread adoption of the program. Sub-group analysis demonstrated that the program is also effective in reducing falls in people with mild-moderate cognitive impairment – a game-changing discovery, as few trials have demonstrated a positive effect for this group of older adults.

This presentation will outline the clinical trial, provide practical advice on how to prescribe and deliver the program and give real examples of where the right type of exercise program, at the right dose and the right frequency, has made a real difference to residents of long-term care. Critical success factors on the trajectory from clinical research to successfully advocating for government policy change will also be described, and the economic evaluation and cost-benefit of the program will be presented.

Continuing Education: This webinar is eligible for 1.0 Nursing contact hour & 1.0 Therapy contact hour.

Speaker Bio:

Dr Jennie Hewitt is a practicing physiotherapist, educator and academic researcher with a passion for delivering best practice and leading research that informs health care policy. She was awarded the Aged and Community Services Australia, National Lifetime Achievement Award and a National Commendation for Better Practice from the Aged Care Quality Agency for her work on the Sunbeam Program in long-term care. In 2019 she won the Morley Award for the paper most likely to influence policy and practice from the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. Her work has been used successfully to advocate for Australian Aged Care Funding Reform. She was invited to give evidence on the role of physiotherapists in aged care at the Royal Commission. Dr Hewitt has worked as technical advisor to the Federal Chief Allied Health Officer in 2021-2022 on an implementation plan to translate and scale her exercise program to practice in Australian long-term care facilities nationally.