Paramedic programmes incorporate person-centred approaches to the individualisation of emergency care. Within this context, older patients (aged 65+) pose specific challenges in relation to their ambulatory health and wellbeing. Helping these patients to avoid falling can contribute significantly to reducing their morbidity and mortality and improving their overall health and wellbeing. Alongside this, in times of economic constraint, it is the responsibility of all health professionals to promote ambulatory wellbeing to address the inordinate number of people necessitating paramedic support and intervention because of falls each year in the UK. Understanding the underlying processes of ageing, which are often a mix of the normal processes of physiological senescence, plus the impact of pathology—which is not age specific but occurs more commonly in older people—enables practitioners to build knowledge of how best these people can be supported. This short module affords paramedics the opportunity to learn about these physiological processes and to look at the holistic impact that falls can have on older people.

Catherine Hayes -

Heather Yemm -

Yitka Graham -