Multi-component Intervention for Reducing Fear of Falling in Community-dwelling Older Adults

In the short term, the study will provide insight into the effectiveness of multi-component intervention for reducing Fear of falling (FoF) in community-dwelling older adults. Effective interventions will be incorporated into existing programs for frailty and falls prevention in primary care. Reducing FoF will break the cycle of physical activity restriction, functional decline and further falls in older adults. Long term potential benefits include improving the health status of older adults and thus reducing healthcare utilization. The primary aim is to compare the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention comprising exercise recommendations, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) components and motivational interviewing (MI) based telephone review against usual care for reducing Fear of Falling (FoF) in community- dwelling older adults. Secondary aims include to compare the effectiveness of the multi-component intervention against usual care for increasing physical activity and reducing falls in community- dwelling older adults. The hypothesis is that the multi-component intervention will be more effective as compared to usual care for reducing FoF and falls and increasing physical activity in community- dwelling older adults.