Upskilling Allied Health Professionals and Judo Coaches to Teach Safe Falling Skills to Older Adults
Jadczak AD, Verma M, Headland M, Visvanathan R. Upskilling Allied Health Professionals and Judo Coaches to Teach Safe Falling Skills to Older Adults: A Train-the-Trainer Intervention. Australas J Ageing. 2026 Sep;45(3):e70221.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Learning safe falling skills, adapted from judo, is a promising strategy to reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries in older adults. This study aimed to upskill allied health professionals and judo coaches to teach safe falling skills to community-dwelling older adults.
Methods: A Train-the-Trainer program including a 2-day workshop (13 h) on teaching safe falling and how to work with older adults, followed by weekly attendance at an 8-week judo-based safe falling program for older adults to provide practical teaching experience. Outcomes included perceived competence and importance in teaching safe falling (6-point Likert Scale), objective knowledge (10 multiple-choice questions) and trainees’ own safe falling skills (Strömqvist-Bååthe Falling Competence (SBFC) Test) assessed at three time points: pre-workshop (T1), post-workshop (T2) and post 8-week practical sessions (T3).
Results: Sixteen trainees (eight allied health professionals and eight judo coaches) participated (median age 50 years [IQR: 42-61], 38% female). Perceived competence, objective knowledge and safe falling skills improved significantly after the workshop (T2, p < 0.05) and remained high after the practical sessions (T3) when compared to T1. Perceived importance improved after the full Train-the-Trainer program (T3, p = 0.02). Judo coaches scored higher overall in safe falling (p = 0.01) than allied health professionals, but both groups demonstrated similar improvements over time (p = 0.08).
Conclusions: Improvements in perceived competence, knowledge and safe falling were observed among allied health professionals and judo coaches, with most gains occurring after the 2-day workshop. This Train-the-Trainer program may support broader implementation of safe falling training across community and clinical settings.
Keywords: accidental falls; aged; allied health personnel; education; martial arts.
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