An NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme two-stage commissioned funding opportunity for research into returning patients to standing after a fall.
Research question: What is the clinical and cost effectiveness of an intervention that focuses on training people to return to standing after a fall, compared with usual care, in those at risk of a long-lie?
Patient/target group: Older adults living in their own homes, who have recently had a fall and were unable to rise from the floor (return to standing) without the assistance of another person. The ambulance service may have attended (and the individual may or may not have been conveyed to hospital), or assistance may have been provided by a community responder. Applicants to define and justify specific inclusion criteria.
Intervention: A training/rehabilitation programme focused on increasing an individual’s ability to stand up from the floor independently and safely following a fall. The programme would be delivered by a suitably trained individual and might utilise a ‘backward chaining’ method. Applicants should specify and justify the intervention parameters, including the programme timeframe (for example number, length, and frequency of sessions), and if delivery varies according to ability and achievement.
Control: Usual care. Applicants to define usual care when there is variation in practice.
Important outcomes: Ability to return to standing
ELIGIBILITY
See the Health Technology Assessment Programme page for details about the overall funding programme remit and eligibility criteria.
VALUE AND DURATION
No overall limit – funding awarded reflects the scale and complexity of the proposed research, including justifiable direct and indirect costs.
KEY DATES
Outline application: 26 November 2025
Outline application shortlisting decision: January 2026
Full application deadline: 19 March 2026
Full research specification and application guidance can be found on the opportunity webpage.