Research design
The study will utilize a quasi-experimental design whereby the researcher would be allowed liberty to select subjects for the study. This is something caused by the nature of the study (Parahoo, 2014). The study essentially involves elderly persons and it would be prudent to allow the researcher liberty to choose among subjects who are capable of fully participating.
Ethical considerations
It is of great importance to undertake steps to protect the subjects of the study, in terms of upholding their safety, autonomy and confidentiality. In this regard, thus study would be guided by a set of ethical principles (beneficence, non-maleficence and fairness) (Parahoo, 2014).
On the other hand, the study would seek approval from the IRB in order to ensure its legality and ethicality (Parahoo, 2014). The subjects would be availed informed consent forms of which they would declare their non-coerced willingness to participate in the study. This would however be after adequate training and education on their role as subjects. Informed consent forms would be issued after subject education and training.
Limitations of the proposed study
One of the limitations is that the study subjects are elderly persons with the potential of having cognitive problems. This may hinder their ability to make informed decisions or express themselves effectively. Of course being involved in this study would require active participation and contribution of the subjects. It thus means that the possibility of having elderly persons with mental and cognitive impairments would compromise the quality of the study.
Considering that this study takes a quasi-experimental design, there is the possibility of contamination of confounding variables. It becomes hard to identify and control the effects of confounding variables in a quasi-experiment and this is a potential threat to the study.
The lack of randomness, a characteristic feature of a quasi-experimental design is a threat to the generalizability of the study findings. The lack of randomness gives the researcher huge liberty to make decisions something that can possibly contribute to bias.
Implications for practice
Fall among the elderly is among the major challenges facing the healthcare sector in the modern-day. The elderly population has been increasing tremendously for the last few decades and this problem is gradually snowballing. This accentuates the need bringing on board new evidence in order to ensure that the problem is squarely addressed. Believably, it is through the application of new evidence that this problem can be arrested and save the healthcare sector billions of dollars that go towards dealing with injuries, mortalities, morbidities and exacerbations arising from falls (Moyer, 2012).
It is through evidence-searching, essentially, through research that this problem can be understood form its root and subsequently, feasible solutions identified and adopted. In this regard, this research bears a lot of significance for nursing practice in terms of resolving the issue of elderly fall. As an implication, this research will build on the already existing knowledge on fall prevention and subsequently, form a basis for future research into the problem (Moyer, 2012). Additionally, the findings of this research would help healthcare providers in acting proactively to prevent falls.
Hypothetically, the primary cause of this problem is that there is a gap between best evidence and practice. The findings of this research would help in bridging this gap and equip healthcare providers with new evidence and practical steps towards implementing the interventions.
References
Moyer, V. A. (2012). Prevention of falls in community-dwelling older adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 157(3), 197-204.
Parahoo, K. (2014). Nursing research: principles, process and issues. Palgrave Macmillan.
