About Us

In February 2003, older adults, services providers, researchers and educators across the state of California convened in Sacramento to hear about the issues of older adult falls and to discuss strategies for reducing fall risks.  A background White Paper was developed prior to the conference.  Afterwards a Blueprint for Fall Prevention was created.  In March 2004, a one-day special event on Fall Prevention was held at the American Society on Aging/National Council on Aging Joint Conference.  In January 2005, the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence was established to “provide leadership, create new knowledge, improve practice and develop sustainable fall prevention programs.”

Preventing Falls in Older Californians: State of the Art (Invitational Conference, Sacramento, California, February 5-6, 2003) The goal of the conference was to engage a select and representative group of recognized leaders in California's health and human services for older adults to establish "A California Blueprint for Fall Prevention." Click on the link above for the background White Paper that was prepared for the conference.

Creating a California Blueprint for Fall Prevention: Proceedings of a Statewide Conference (Invitational Conference, Sacramento, California, February 5-6, 2003) This Conference Proceedings document was written based on the presentations by speakers, and the creative input by all the participants in the workgroups. This document and the White Paper document (see above) provides building blocks for a long-term collaborative effort to reduce the risk of falls for California's diverse elders.

StopFalls.Org is provided to you as a service of the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence created by the California Fall Prevention Consortium (CFPC). We, CFPC are a public-private interdisciplinary partnership drawn from five organizations:

1. University of Southern California's Andrus Gerontology Center (Andrus);
2. The Center for Successful Aging (CSA) at California State University, Fullerton;
3. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC);
4. University of California Los Angeles, School of Medicine;
5. The California Department of Public Health, State and Local Injury Control Section (SLIC).

Andrus

Andrus serves as the program office, is responsible for primary administrative responsibilities and serves as the communication/dissemination site.  They share their expertise in the environment, particularly home and community safety in relation to fall prevention.

• Jon Pynoos, Ph. D.
• Phoebe Liebig, Ph. D.
• Maria Henke, M.A.
• Gretchen Alkema, Ph. D.
• In Hee Choi, M.I.P.A.  
• Caroline Cicero, M.S.W., M.P.L.
• Anna Quyen Do Nguyen, OTD, OTR/L
• Christy M. Nishita, Ph.D.
• Bernard Steinman, M.S.
• Greg Misiaszek, M.S.Ed.
• Christine Hummel, M.A.O.M.
• Carrie Greer
• Regina Gongoll, MSG

CSA

CSA currently offers an Instructor Training program called FallProof.  Their instructors conduct group physical activity classes in the community.  They share their expertise in balance and mobility as a strategy for fall risk reduction. 

• Debra Rose, Ph.D.

GRECC

GRECC has a history of conducting research in the area of fall prevention.  They share their expertise in medical management of risk factors for falls and are skilled in evaluating existing and developing fall prevention programs.

• Laurence Rubenstein, M.D., M.P.H.
• B. Josea Kramer, Ph.D
• Kali Peterson, M.S.G., M.P.A.
• Adrienne Bouard

SLIC works closely with Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control (EPIC) to track injuries across the state.  They are involved in identifying the causes and frequency of  fall-related injuries.  They share their expertise in coalition building and creating systems change to improve the programs and services available to reduce fall risk.

• Barb Alberson, M.P.H.
• Rachel Zerbo, M.P.H.

Currently we are developing other community partners.  RAND corporation has developed mapping and analysis tools which can be used to target effective fall prevention interventions.

For technical support, please contact techsupport@stopfalls.org.

The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence is headquartered at the University of Southern California Andrus Gerontology Center, located at 3715 McClintock Ave., Room 228, Los Angeles, California 90089-0191.Tel: (213)740-1364; Fax: (213)740-7069; E-mail: info@stopfalls.org.