PURPOSE: To explore the challenges and opportunities for the implementation of falls preventive services across Europe. METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey among healthcare professionals was initiated by the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Special Interest Group on Falls and Fractures containing a Likert scale and multiple-choice questions on education and knowledge, current practices, barriers, and facilitators for falls prevention. Survey participation for healthcare professionals was encouraged by the EuGMS through an email invitation, website banner, and social media. National representatives from 24 countries further promoted it via societies, local networks, and hospital channels. RESULTS: A total of 1669 multidisciplinary healthcare professionals participated from 34 European countries (median 47 years; 75% female; 40.6% physicians (73.3% geriatricians/trainees), 36% physiotherapists, 23.4% other healthcare professionals). Only 26.9% believed their undergraduate education adequately prepared them for clinical practice in this area. A total of 75.8% of respondents reported opportunistically screening older adults for fall risk often or always during consultations. Gait and balance assessment was considered the most important and was the most frequently performed component of the multifactorial fall risk assessment. The top-five barriers were staffing issues, lack of time, older adults' non-adherence to recommended strategies, workload related to falls prevention, and prioritizing other tasks. The top-five facilitators were more time, easy-to-use guidelines, sufficient resources, increased education and training on falls prevention, and increased collaboration. We observed regional and country-level variation in these top barriers and facilitators. CONCLUSION: This survey highlights the need for improved undergraduate education in falls prevention across Europe. It is essential to educate and engage governmental bodies and insurers to secure their support and prioritization of falls prevention initiatives. Furthermore, enhancing education, addressing older adults' nonadherence, interdisciplinary collaboration and providing easy-to-use guidelines seem crucial for effective implementation. The falls prevention strategy should be tailored to the local context.

2nd Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department National Rehabilitation Center EKA Athens Greece

Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute Amsterdam The Netherlands

Center for Geriatric Medicine University Medical Centre Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia

CIBER of Frailty and Healthy Aging Instituto de Salud CarlosIII Madrid Spain

Department of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatric Rehabilitation Robert Bosch Hospital Stuttgart Germany

Department of Communication Amsterdam School of Communication Research ASCoR University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands

Department of Geriatric Medicine Clinic of Medicine St Olavs Hospital Trondheim University Hospital Trondheim Norway

Department of Geriatric Medicine Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital Pietà Malta

Department of Geriatric Medicine Landspitali University Hospital Reykjavík Iceland

Department of Geriatric Medicine Odense University Hospital Odense Denmark

Department of Geriatric Medicine Skåne University Hospital Malmö Sweden

Department of Geriatrics and Internal Medicine 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital Prague Czech Republic

Department of Geriatrics Montpellier University Hospital and MUSE Montpellier France

Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics University Hospital Kraków Poland

Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology Jagiellonian University Medical College Kraków Poland

Department of Internal Medicine Medical University of Graz Auenbruggerplatz 15 8036 Graz Austria

Department of Internal Medicine Section of Geriatric Medicine Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands

Department of Medical Gerontology School of Medicine Trinity College Dublin and Mercers Institute for Successful Ageing St James's Hospital Dublin Ireland

Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science Faculty of Medicine and Health Science NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway

Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation General Hospital 8Mi Septemvri Skopje North Macedonia

Department of Physiotherapy Faculty of Medicine School of Health Sciences University of Iceland Reykjavik Iceland

Division of Geriatrics Department of Internal Medicine Istanbul Medical Faculty Istanbul University Capa Istanbul Turkey

Division of Geriatrics Department of Internal Medicine Liv Hospital Vadistanbul Istanbul Turkey

Division of Gerontology and Geriatrics Department of Medicine and Surgery University of Perugia Geriatric and Orthogeriatric Units Azienda Ospedaliera di Perugia Perugia Italy

Faculty of Health and Social Sciences University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences Research Group Healthcare and Ethics UHasselt Diepenbeek Belgium

Faculty of Medicine Tirana University of Medicine Tirana Albania

Faculty of Medicine University of Iceland Reykjavík Iceland

Geriatric Department Hospital Universitario de Navarra Pamplona Spain

Geriatric Research Unit Department of Clinical Research University of Southern Denmark Odense Denmark

Hellenic Society for the Study and Research of Ageing Athens Greece

Hospital General Universitario de Ciudad Real Ciudad Real Spain

Israel Center for Disease Control Ministry of Health Ramat Gan Israel

KU Leuven Faculty of Medicine Department of Public Health and Primary Care Academic Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Leuven Belgium

Laboratory for Research On Aging Society Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine Medical Faculty Jagiellonian University Medical College Kraków Poland

Mater Dei Hospital l Imsida Malta and St Vincent De Paul Luqa Malta

Population Health Science Institute Newcastle University Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4AX UK

School of Health and Life Sciences Research Centre for Health Glasgow Caledonian University Cowcaddens Road Glasgow Scotland UK

School of Pharmacy Faculty of Health Sciences University of Eastern Finland Kuopio Finland

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 4LP UK

Universidad Pública de Navarra IdiSNA Pamplona Spain

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Falls prevention in community-dwelling older adults and implementation of world falls guidelines: a call for action across Europe by the European Geriatric Medicine Society Special Interest Group on Falls and Fractures