Research led by Dr. Jennifer Davis at UBC Okanagan, released on Mar. 12, shows that investing in a falls prevention clinic for older adults delivers significant health and financial benefits. The study focused on the Falls Prevention Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital and found that every dollar spent resulted in substantial returns by reducing injuries and related healthcare costs.
Falls are a leading cause of injury and hospitalization among older adults, creating challenges for individuals, families, and the healthcare system. Dr. Davis said, "By preventing falls before additional injuries or fractures occur in older adults who have a history of falls, the Falls Prevention Clinic not only improves quality of life but also reduces costly emergency visits, hospital stays and long-term care admissions."
The clinic serves adults aged 65 and older with a history of multiple falls—on average, three in the past year—and provides risk assessments along with personalized exercise programs led by physiotherapists. These programs focus on progressive strength and balance exercises to help reduce future falls.
Dr. Davis explained that measuring the financial return of this geriatrician-based care model showed it was both clinically effective and cost-saving: "It prevented falls by 36 per cent, providing significant cost savings to the health-care system. The return on investment for this is transformational, ranging from about 500 to 2,700 per cent." In 2020 alone, the clinic generated an estimated $956,288 in annual healthcare savings while operating with a physiotherapist salary cost of $103,000.
She added that modest changes such as adding physiotherapist-led exercise prescriptions to existing care pathways can result in meaningful improvements: "This is a compelling example of how modest, evidence-based changes in existing care pathways can result in significant health and economic gains." Dr. Davis also said that these findings support broader efforts like Embrace Aging Month programming in the Okanagan region.
Looking ahead, Dr. Davis emphasized the importance of prevention-focused care: "This finding is pivotal because our health-care system already has a geriatrician-based care model. Adding physiotherapist-led exercise prescriptions is a simple change that provides substantial benefits and saves health-care dollars. The bottom line is that a minimal investment to support physiotherapists delivering exercise can lead to extensive gains."
