Fall Prevention Summit
December 5th to 6th - Long Beach, CA

The 2007 California Fall Prevention Summit : “There is a Lot We Can Do to Fight a Serious Problem!”

More than 150 invited guests attended “The California Fall Prevention Summit: Progress, Challenges & Next Steps”, held at the Long Beach Hilton, December 5-6, 2007. The Summit was made possible with the support of the Archstone Foundation and The California Wellness Foundation.. Participants were invited to assure a broad constituency fraom a variety of stakeholder groups. According to Jon Pynoos, PhD, Co-Director of the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence, the purpose of the Summit was to “ assess progress in meeting the goals of the landmark fall prevention blueprint developed in 2003 and to plan the next steps in building a fall prevention infrastructure in California.” Mary Ellen Kullman, Vice President of the Archstone Foundation called the Summit “… a motivating fall prevention event intended to produce action plans that will guide our future.”
 
Summit participants heard a variety of presentations on fall prevention by notable speakers, among them State Senator Al Lowenthal. “Fall prevention issues have been ignored by the legislature” he said. “The budget crisis will make things difficult in Sacramento in 2008. We should be looking at fall prevention because it’s the wisest way to use the limited resources we have. The real work will need to come from the bottom up, from the people who are doing the research and the work.”

Bonita Lynn Beattie, Vice President, Injury Prevention Center for Healthy Aging at the National Council on Aging pointed out how important it is “… to spread the message that falling is not inevitable.” Ileana Arias, PhD, the Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Center for Disease Prevention at the CDC pointed out that “… as the population ages, falls will become a very serious problem for which we are not prepared. The Summit agenda shows us that there is a lot we can do about it now.”

Lynn Daucher, Director of the California Department of Aging, promised to  “deliver a loud and clear fall prevention message to Governor Schwarzenegger”, and Vicky Scott, Senior Advisor on Falls and Injury Prevention at the British Columbia Injury Research & Prevention Unit emphasized that “… falls are often just a marker of serious health problems for older people. By paying attention to falls, we are paying better attention to good geriatric care."   

Summit participants applied their expertise in specific break out groups where they worked diligently to identify policy objectives for the next several years to prioritize state efforts in fall prevention. Key policy recommendations generated in those work groups include:

• Infuse fall prevention into all activities of Area Agencies on Aging by making it part of their mission, incorporating it into needs assessments, featuring it in area plans, and including it in programs run by sub contractors.
• Improve the state system for gathering and tabulating fall incidence and data to assist in fall prevention and care planning at all levels.
• Develop fall prevention media outreach campaigns (e.g. radio, television, internet, Public Service Announcements, and other programming) promoting healthy lifestyle issues (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, and vision check- ups) appropriate for ethnically, educationally, and geographically diverse older adults.
• Educate older consumers and their family caregivers about their crucial role in fall prevention and management.
• Train physicians, NPs, nurses and other providers on evidence-based practice guidelines (e.g., American Geriatric Society) for fall risk assessment and management to ensure their incorporation into all primary care for seniors.
• Assure development of an inventory of local fall prevention programs and resources as a foundation for information and referral networks.
• Include fall prevention guidelines in policy planning documents related to urban development, aging services, housing, parks/recreation, transportation, street/sidewalk repair, and emergency/disaster preparedness.

For a complete list of the policy recommendations drafted at the Summit: Click Here

Falls Summit Photos
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Information for Falls Summit Walk

Fall Summit Walk Article by Athan Bezaitis
Fall Summit Walk Press Release
Fall Summit Walk Flyer

Falls Summit Walk Photos
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Falls Summit Discussion Board

Created for the advisory board members of the Fall Prevention Summit to craft fall prevention resolutions.
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