Falls Risk Assessment Template with Examples

What is a Falls Risk Assessment Template?

A falls risk assessment template identifies multifactorial risks in aged care residents to direct targeted interventions and maintain compliance with facility policy. In Australian residential aged care, it is a required component of the initial nursing assessment and must be completed within 24 hours of admission using a validated tool.

Clinicians categorise patients as low, medium, or high risk so they can implement targeted prevention strategies with the fall risk assessment.

This blog covers the importance of the template, different types and how to complete a FRAT assessment.

Why is the Falls Risk Assessment Important in Aged Care?

Falls persist as the primary cause of injury-related harm, ranking as the top reason for hospitalisations and injury-related deaths. What follows must be consistent, evidence-based, and accurately recorded to meet Aged Care Quality Standards. However, for nurses managing 15 or more residents per shift, documenting falls prevention can consume a significant portion of available care time.

Below explain other reasons why a falls risk assessment is important in aged care:

A Falls Risk Assessment Tool Reduces Documentation Burden

Research indicates clinical documentation accounts for 28.1% of morning shifts, 22.7% of afternoon shifts and 20.9% of night duty.

During the assessment, a template embedded in an intelligent platform extracts details from the session and generates a structured draft. The result is a structured draft ready before the shift notes pile up: documentation complete, time recovered for direct care.

The Falls Assessment Identifies Risk Factors

A stack of factors like unsteady gait, poor balance, cognitive changes and environmental trip hazards result in falls among older adults. A structured FRAT helps clinicians pinpoint which risks are actually in play for that resident, so the response is targeted.

And it works. Research linking individual risk factors to matched interventions reported a 15% reduction in falls and a 34% reduction in injurious falls across 37,000+ patients.

Falls Risk Assessment Templates Adapt Across Different Care Settings

FRAMP tools predict well in the populations and settings they were validated for. This means using the right tool, calibrated for the right environment. Risk scores change over time in a residential aged care context, so falls risk needs repeat assessment.

In aged care, small check-ins, done well, prevent big events and ensure patient safety.

Types of Falls Risk Assessment Tools in Australia

No multifactorial falls risk tool is accurate enough to use as a standalone call, which is why it helps to understand the options and pick the one that actually fits your setting and residents. Low sensitivity in the wrong setting means high‑risk residents can slip through the cracks.

The most relevant tools for Australian aged care nurses include the following:

The FRAT (Falls Risk Assessment Tool) for Aged Care

The FRAT risk assessment tool for residential aged care is a validated, nurse-friendly falls risk screening designed for subacute and residential aged care. It identifies fall history as the strongest predictor of future falls.

It is described through three parts:

1. Falls risk status score - recent falls, medications, psychological status, cognitive status
2. Risk factor checklist - mobility, transfer status, continence, vision, nutritional status, environment, and pain
3. Action plan - links identified risks to referral pathways and interventions

Morse Fall Scale

The Morse Fall Scale (MFS) is a brief, validated, inpatient fall-risk screening tool used in acute care settings. Clinicians use the MFS as a screening scale rather than a comprehensive multifactorial falls assessment.

The six factors it scores classify fall risk, including:

1. History of falling.
2. Gait / transferring / mobility.
3. Mental status / cognition.
4. Ambulatory aid use
5. Secondary diagnosis.
6. IV / Heparin

They have overlaps with other screening assessments.

Multifactorial Falls Risk Assessment

A multifactorial falls risk assessment (MFRA) is recommended when someone is clearly in a higher-risk group; these are often older adults (65+) or people with neurological or mobility conditions. It's usually triggered after repeat falls, a fall-related injury, or obvious unsteadiness, because that's when a simple screen stops being enough.

In the hospital, it is usually completed soon after admission so the care plan can be tailored early.

Treat the score as a prompt for clinical judgment. A retrospective study across 25 residential aged care facilities found the PH-FRAT showed low sensitivity, correctly identifying only about a third of residents who went on to fall (sensitivityER 33.6%, AUROC 0.57). The score sits inside a broader geriatric assessment so that the aged care plan is grounded in the resident.

FROP-Com for Community and Home-Based Assessments

The National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) developed the FROP‑Com (Falls Risk for Older People in the Community) specifically to evaluate risk factors for older adults living independently.

The tool focuses on several key clinical and environmental domains:

• History of previous falls
• Current medication use
• Psychological well-being
• Cognitive function
• Visual acuity
• Continence management
• Foot health and footwear suitability
• Gait and balance stability
• Transferring ability
• Environmental home hazards
• Functional independence and daily activities
• Available support networks

Using home health documentation templates ensures you capture every essential safety check, maintain clinical compliance, and identify high-risk hazards before they lead to an incident.

Documentation load, especially when manually done with assessments, has long been the bane of clinicians. It follows clinicians past their shift, taking up time and mental energy. Reducing this load gives them more room to stay present during assessments, finish notes early, and leave shifts on time.

As a practical example, Schoen Clinic successfully reduced documentation time by up to 50% and increased adoption through clinician-driven, customisable templates.

The team found Heidi while looking for a secure AI model built for real clinical work. Heidi stood out because of its ease of use and clear compliance credentials.

“We’re now able to squeeze additional patients in if needed in crisis situations, because we are not needing to worry quite so much about having a large chunk of admin time available in order to also complete the work. This, in turn, improves flow along with patient and clinician experience.”

When templates and training match real clinical flow, falls assessment becomes a reliable safety habit.

How to Complete a Falls Risk Assessment

A falls risk assessment is strongly recommended and treated as the first step everything else builds on. A falls risk score is a useful flag, but it cannot replace clinical judgment about the cause of risk and next steps.

Here are the steps to completing a nursing falls risk assessment:

Step 1: Answer Initial Screening Questions

Falls screening begins with three evidence-based questions that quickly identify patients. The screening identifies residents who may require a multifactorial falls risk assessment to better manage their safety.

The core screening questions are:

• Have you had any falls in the last year?
• Do you feel unsteady when you stand up or walk around?
• Are you worried about falling or losing your balance?

If a resident answers "yes" to any of these points, it flags an elevated risk and indicates that a deeper clinical evaluation is needed.

Step 2: Gather Clinical Risk Factors and Medical History

A thorough clinical history pinpoints the factors that increase your patient's risk of falling and guides your interventions. Review the history of falls, medical conditions, medications, and health factors affecting balance, strength, mobility, or cognition.

These variables include previous incidents, neurological or cardiovascular conditions, vision impairment, osteoporosis, and chronic illnesses contributing to falls risk.

Step 2: Answer Objective Functional and Mobility Metrics

Objective functional tests evaluate your patient's mobility, balance, and gait to pinpoint specific risks. Use validated assessments, like the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, to measure functional performance and ground your clinical decisions in objective data.

For instance, you should document the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) results, mobility level, and gait stability alongside any specific observations you make during the visit.

Step 4: Score For Quantitative Fall Risk (Morse Fall Scale)

A standardised falls risk score quantifies a patient's likelihood of falling. The Morse Fall Scale screens how likely a person is to fall, based on six key variables, such as:

1. History of Falling
2. Secondary Diagnosis
3. Ambulatory Aid
4. IV / Heparin
5. Gait / Transferring
6. Mental Status

Assess the established risk factors, then calculate the total score to determine the patient's level of risk. After that, assign the final falls risk score.

Step 5: Check For Extrinsic Environmental Hazards

Extrinsic hazards make a fall more likely to happen, even when mobility and cognition are stable. A good falls assessment includes an environmental review because hazard removal is often the fastest, lowest‑risk intervention, by looking for:

• Loose or unstable furniture
• Cluttered walkways
• Poor lighting (especially at night)
• Ill-fitting footwear

Step 6: Create Personalised Care Plan

A personalised care plan turns the assessment into practical actions that lessen a patient's risk of falling. Tailor interventions to the patient's individual risk factors, functional ability, health conditions, and living environment.

Recommendations may include strength and balance exercises, medication review, vision assessment, home hazard modifications, mobility aids, footwear advice, or referrals to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or specialist services.

Fall Risk Assessment Template Example

A falls assessment should protect your time with residents rather than pile on documentation. Heidi drafts structured assessments for your review, cutting documentation burden.

Free Falls Risk Assessment Example Template