Falls Risk Assessment and Management Plan

The Falls Risk Assessment and Management Plan (FRAMP) is a bi-fold document designed for use in the general adult population in Perth metropolitan hospitals. It summarises the key practices outlined by both the:

• National Standard 10 (external site)
• Australian falls prevention best practice guidelines (external site)

The document is set out in a simple, logical format that guides staff through the essential falls screening, assessment and management processes.

Features of the plan

Several features of the FRAMP include:

• a screening process in flow chart format
• specific interventions targeted to the individual
• a place for multidisciplinary input
• space to easily record the involvement of the patient and carer in their falls management plan
• a mechanism to record most of the patient’s falls related information in the one form (PDF 186KB) reducing the number of places staff have to look for information about the patient’s falls risk and management.

How it was developed

Prior to the introduction of the FRAMP, all WA public hospitals were using the Falls Risk Management Tool (FRMT).

The FRMT was developed and introduced by the WA Falls Prevention Community of Practice for hospital settings in 2010.

In 2013/14 the FRMT was reviewed by a multidisciplinary, multisite working party with the aim of having:

• significant multisite consultation with clinical staff during development
• integration of the relevant National Standards for accreditation
• updated assessment and interventions that reflected the latest evidence-based, best practice
• a more comprehensive but more easily communicated falls management plan for individuals.

The review commenced with an online survey of the FRMT and the results then formed the basis of the FRAMP development.

The FRAMP was then trialled across several hospitals before it was finalised and made available to all Perth metropolitan public hospitals.

For a detailed description of the methodology used to create the FRAMP and the evidence base supporting the FRAMP design and content, please refer to the documents below:

• Development of the FRAMP document (PDF 699KB)
  Development of the FRAMP document (Word 815KB)
• FRAMP evidence table (non accessible version) (PDF 399KB)
  FRAMP evidence table (non accessible version) (Word 229KB)
• FRAMP evidence table (accessible version) (PDF 493KB)
  FRAMP evidence table (accessible version) (Word 305KB)

How to use it

Instructions on how to use the FRAMP are available in a step-by-step presentation (PowerPoint 1.5MB). This presentation can be used to run face-to-face education sessions on the use of the FRAMP at your site.