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Older adult care

How to assess fall risk in an older adult

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.

Nursing (NCLEX)MD / DOPA
Practice it in VR with Blocky

One in four older adults falls each year. The CDC STEADI approach screens, assesses and acts.

Step by step

  1. Screen with three questions

    Have you fallen in the past year? Do you feel unsteady when standing or walking? Do you worry about falling? [1]

  2. Gait and balance

    Timed Up and Go: stand from a chair, walk 3 meters, turn, walk back and sit. 12 seconds or more means higher risk. Add the 30-second chair stand and the 4-stage balance test. [1]

  3. Medicines

    Sedatives, sleep pills, antidepressants, blood pressure drugs and opioids raise risk. [1]

  4. Blood pressure lying and standing

    A drop on standing (orthostatic hypotension) is a common cause. [1]

  5. Vision, feet and home

    Vision check, feet and shoes, and home hazards such as rugs, stairs and poor lighting. [1]

  6. Act

    Strength and balance exercise, adjust medicines, treat low blood pressure, fix vision and home hazards. [1]

  7. In the hospital

    Bed low, call light in reach, non-slip footwear and regular rounding. [2]

Common errors

Practice it in Making Synapses

In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

Making Synapses cases that train this skill

88 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. CDC STEADI (falls in older adults)
  2. NCSBN 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan

Facts and steps follow CDC STEADI (falls in older adults); NCSBN 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan. Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.