Robyn R.M. Gershon, MHS, DrPH; Tara McAlexandar, MPH; Fern Hertzberg, MSW; Diana Nobile-Hernandez

1. Household Safety Checklist: A Tool
for Preventing Rehospitalization
Robyn R.M. Gershon, MHS, DrPH; Tara McAlexandar, MPH;
Fern Hertzberg, MSW; Diana Nobile-Hernandez
• An estimated 20% of all Medicare beneficiaries discharged from hospitals are rehospitalized
within 30 days — 34% within 90 days
• Households can be unsafe environments, especially for the elderly
• Falls-related injuries are an important risk factor for rehospitalizaiton
• Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in individuals ≥ 75 yrs, followed by burns
An easy-to-use household safety checklist – targeting patients
discharged to home care is needed
To address this gap, and with funding provided by AHRQ, we
developed and tested a new safety tool
50
45
40
35
Percentage (%) of Households
30
25
47%
20
15 30%
25% 24%
10 19%
5
0
Lack of Fire Lack of Carbon 3 or more Falls Lack of Cockroaches
Extinguisher Monoxide Hazards Emergency
Detector Contact List
 Easy to use for identifying hazards
 High patient acceptability
 Adopted by many homecare agencies