Introduction: We yearly record 37.3 million falls that require medical attention. The most common consequences of falls that result in injury are hip fractures, arm fractures, bruises, and pain. Since older people often lose the opportunity to live in a safe home environment, occupational therapists assume an important role in their lives. With appropriate approaches, environmental adaptations, the implementation of activities, and rehabilitation strategies to improve both motor and process skills of the elderly, occupational therapists can prevent falls and, with their presence in the home environment, provide a better insight into the problems the elderly face on a daily basis. Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to review the existing literature and implement standardized assessment instruments to determine the risk factors for falls of the elderly in their home environment and which of them are the most common, how an occupational therapist can plan strategies to prevent falls in the elderly in their home environment and what strategies can be used to prevent their occurrence. Methods: The study included 50 elderly people, whose average age was 75 years ± 7.7. The results were measured with the Fall Risk Assessment Questionnaire and the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (Home Fast). Statistically significant difference was determined with the Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-squared test. Results: The Mann-Whitney test showed that the differences in the average risk perception according to the age group in the study were not statistically significant (U = 269.00, p = 0.50). We discovered that proportions of the elderly up to and over 70 years of age were equally represented (x^2 = 0.825, p = 0.662) in every response (low, medium, high fall risk assessment). Discussion and conclusion: Occupational therapists are qualified to assess risk factors and make physical, environmental and behavioural interventions to reduce the risk of injuries, improve safety and enable the elderly to increase their function and assume the roles that express their values and identity. With the help of this paper, we can confirm that the frequency of risk factors is relatively high and that it justifies the planning and implementation of interventions to prevent falls of the elderly in their home environment.
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