IPTOP Education Grant
August 6, 2026
World Falls Congress – Manchester – June 24-26, 2026
IPTOP is proud to celebrate Bertha Oppong-Yeboah, our MCR for Ghana and IPTOP Education Grant recipient, who presented her research at the 3rd World Falls Congress in Manchester.
Bertha’s presentation examined U-shaped age patterns and the determinants of falls among community-dwelling older adults in Ghana, a study that makes a meaningful and timely contribution to one of the most significant gaps in global falls prevention research.
The evidence base underpinning falls prevention practice worldwide, including screening tools, risk stratification frameworks, and intervention protocols, has been shaped predominantly by research conducted in high-income countries. This matters because the determinants of falls, the health system context, and the lived realities of older adults in low- and middle-income countries can differ substantially from those settings. Without context-specific data, applying Western-derived guidelines in Ghana, or across sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, risks being both clinically inappropriate and inequitable.
Bertha’s work directly addresses that gap. By investigating the specific age patterns and determinants of falls in a Ghanaian community-dwelling population, she is generating the locally grounded evidence that can inform more culturally appropriate, contextually relevant, and ultimately more effective falls prevention strategies, not only for Ghana, but as a model for research in similar settings across the continent.
A central theme of the 3rd World Falls Congress was “Research to Reality”, and a key area of emphasis was tackling falls in low- and middle-income countries. Bertha’s research sits at the very heart of both of those priorities.
Representing Ghana. Advancing equity in global falls research. Thank you, Bertha!
