Innovative Training for Technology-based Frailty and Falls Management

Presently, there is an increasing trend in the world population over 65 years, especially in Europe, which implies an increase in the number of detected cases of frailty and falls. Frailty is a multifactorial problem and people with frailty need simultaneous, coordinated, and stable health and social care, adjusted to the principle of continuity of care. The models of social healthcare generate a social and economic problem that is necessary and urgent to address. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), prevention strategies to be adopted by health systems should be aimed at the identification of risk factors, since one in three older adults suffers at least one fall per year, constituting one of the main geriatric syndromes and the second world cause of accidental or unintentional death. A fall also implies a deterioration in the autonomy of the elderly, decreasing their quality of life and that of their social environment, increasing their frailty. Despite the benefits and potential of biomechanical technologies to improve the assessment of frailty and risk of falling of elder people, it is undeniable that their applications are still limited to research and academic scopes. Experts have not brought down the technical and methodological barriers yet, being these methodologies mostly unknown by the majority of students of medicine and healthcare professionals.