The Department of Health-funded Stay On Your Feet® program aims to reduce falls and falls-related injuries among older Western Australians and has played a crucial role in addressing the burden of falls and falls-related injuries on the WA community and the health care system
Stay On Your Feet® uses the Move Improve Remove campaign messages which focus on three simple steps: Move Your Body (external link); Improve Your Health (external link); and Remove Hazards (external link).
Move Your Body focuses on strategies to improve strength and balance; Improve Your Health is about the importance of maintaining overall health and wellbeing; and Remove Hazards reminds people to remove things in and around the home that might cause slips, trips and falls.
Falls and falls-related injuries place a significant burden on the WA community and healthcare system.
The 2021 WA Falls Report shows that every 12 minutes, a Western Australian goes to the emergency department because of a fall. Someone is hospitalised every 17 minutes, and every day someone from a fall.
Fortunately, falls are preventable. Over the past 20 years Stay On Your Feet® has supported the WA community through a range of activities, including TV campaigns, community education, workforce training, and grants to support community groups to deliver falls prevention programs to their communities.
A team of dedicated Stay On Your Feet® peer educators provide information on falls risk reduction and healthy ageing strategies to more than 2,800 fellow older Western Australian adults each year.
Through the ongoing support of the WA Department of Health, key partnerships and the broader WA falls prevention sector, the program has evolved based on emerging falls prevention evidence and with the needs of our ageing Western Australian community.
Falls prevention continues to be a priority for the Department of Health, and the Department of Health’s 10-year blueprint for action, the Sustainable Health Review, emphasised the importance of healthy ageing and supporting active, independent living.
For more information, visit the Injury Matters website (external site).