Background: Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in older adults. Due to various constraints, objective fall risk screening is seldom performed in clinical settings. Smartphones offer a high potential to provide fall risk screening for older adults in home settings. However, there is limited understanding of whether smartphone technology for falls screening is usable by older adults who present age-related changes in perceptual, cognitive, and motor capabilities. Methods: A fall risk app was developed that consists of a health history questionnaire and 5 progressively challenging mobility tasks to measure individual fall risk. An iterative design-evaluation process of semistructured interviews was performed to determine the usability of the app on a smartphone and tablet. Participants also completed a Systematic Usability Scale (SUS). In the first round of interviews, 6 older adults participated, and in the second round, 5 older adults participated. Interviews were videotaped and transcribed, and the data were coded to create themes. Average SUS scores were calculated for the smartphone and tablet. Results: There were 2 themes identified from the first round of interviews, related to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. While instructions for the balance tasks were difficult to understand, participants found it beneficial to learn about their risk for falls, found the app easy to follow, and reported confidence in using the app on their own. Modifications were made to the app, and following the second round of interviews, participants reported high ease of use and usefulness in learning about their risk of falling. Few differences were reported between using a smartphone or tablet. Average SUS scores ranged from 79 to 84. Conclusions: Our fall risk app was found to be highly usable by older adults as reported from interviews and high scores on the SUS. When designing a mHealth app for older adults, developers should include clear and simple instructions and preventative strategies to improve health. Furthermore, if the design accommodates for age-related sensory changes, smartphones can be as effective as tablets. A mobile app to assess fall risk has the potential to be used in home settings by older adults.

Purpose. To examine head impact incidence and head acceleration during experimentally induced falls as a function of age.Methods. 15 young adults (21.2±2.7) and 10 older adults (61.9±4.3 years) underwent 6 experimentally induced sideways falls. Participants fell sideways onto a 20cm crash pad. The number of head impacts was tabulated from video recordings and head acceleration was calculated from motion capture data. A total of 147 falls were analyzed.Results. The young group underwent 88 falls, in which 11.4% resulted in head impact. The older group underwent 59 falls, in which 34.5% resulted in head impact. A proportion analysis revealed older adults had a significantly greater proportion of head impacts than young adults (X²(1) = 11.445, p = 0.001). A two-way ANOVA only revealed a main effect of head impact on acceleration (F(1,142) = 54.342, p<0.001).Conclusion. The older adults experienced a greater proportion of head impacts during sideways falls. Head impact resulted in greater head acceleration compared to no head impact. Collectively, this data highlights the possibility that age-related neuromuscular changes to head control may result in elevated risk of fall-related TBIs. Future research examining mechanisms underlying increases in fall-related head impact is warranted.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was two-fold and consisted of the development of a skills-based model for Case-by-Collaboration (CBC) and the collection of qualitative data from students and teachers aimed at answering the research question: What skills do individuals (students) apply during the completion of a hypothetical medical laboratory management-based Case-by-Collaboration capstone project? Method: A consensual qualitative research design was selected for this study. Students and their instructors from three Medical Laboratory Science programs located in Texas, New York, and Missouri were recruited. Students were given a case that centers on the fictitious Cheapskate Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). The project culminated when each team presented their proposal to become the sole provider of laboratory testing services to the Cheapskate HMO Board of Directors (BOD). The project was initially designed to be accessed and completed online, where students from different institutions would come together and remotely complete the requirements. Data were collected through in-person observations of the final presentation, semi-structured interviews with students and instructors, and analysis of project documents. Data was coded, and transcripts were reviewed numerous times. Two strategies were employed to ensure the integrity of the study. First, the coded data were examined across the data collection strategies, transcripts containing the data, and the themes identified by a researcher and an outside auditor. Secondly, an audit trail was established to document how the data were collected and analyzed, along with documentation of the thought processes used in the data interpretation phase of the project. Results: The current study analyzed responses from 36 students and 5 instructors across the three data collection sites. Seven themes, in the form of skill sets, were identified in the data analyzed:1) information technology, 2) collaboration/team building, 3) verbal and written communication, 4) clinical reasoning, 5) creativity, 6) managerial, and 7) research/investigative. Conclusion: These results suggest the CBC can develop desirable soft skills. This model can be transferrable and apply to CBCs independent of the studied content. Thus, the CBC is an innovative model to teach soft skills across health disciplines.