Population-based intervention programs are characterized by the shared ownership of the problem and its solution by expertsas well as by community members [13]. In this study, wepropose a shared decision-making and responsibility for the
implementation of strategies. The building of a community
coalition for fall prevention is essential at the beginning. In
several meetings, the concept of the study is explained and the
potential partnerships and contributions from local agencies,
organizations, and services are explored. The community
coalition is led by a steering committee comprising of high rank
representatives of the city’s council, in particular from the senior
citizens' office and department of sports, representatives of the
geriatric department of the district hospital, the local medical
council, the association of sports clubs, the local health
department, the building society, the council of senior citizens,
the ambulatory care services, and the welfare organizations.
The steering committee is built in order to prioritize possible
strategies, name appropriate participants of focus groups and
implementation teams, and to discuss and solve problems of
implementation.
In a second step, focus groups are constituted consisting of local
experts, both professionals and volunteers. They discuss and
develop portfolios of possible strategies. In dialogue, the steering
committee and the researchers rate the proposed strategies. For
implementation, teams of local partners are set up with
professionals as well as volunteers (so called implementation
teams).
The role of the research team is to provide good-practice
examples and information for the professionals and volunteers
in the field, to set up organizational structures, to coordinate
implementation strategies, and to evaluate the processes and
outcomes.