How do general practitioners engage with allied health practitioners to prevent falls in older people? An exploratory qualitative study

AimTo explore general practitioners' (GPs') perceptions about their use of Chronic Disease Management (CDM) items to access allied health interventions, in particular occupational therapy and physiotherapy, with the purpose of preventing falls, as well as to identify GP support needs with regard to development of partnerships with local allied health practitioners. MethodA qualitative study was conducted in the Sydney metropolitan area through individual semistructured interviews with eight GPs, which were recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. ResultsThemes included (i) difficulties and opportunities associated with multidisciplinary care; (ii) potential for CDM items to be used to support falls prevention strategies; and (iii) the user-friendliness of the CDM items. ConclusionEffective coordination of multidisciplinary care between GPs and allied health professionals was desired but difficult to achieve through the CDM system, making translation of falls prevention evidence into clinical practice challenging. Further education on falls prevention and CDM item modification is needed to bridge this gap.