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

The policy recommendations generated at the 2007 California Fall Prevention Summit in Long Beach, December 5-6, 2007

Community Programs – A

1. Strongly recommend that local Departments of Public Health and AAAs assign a staff member as the point person for senior injury prevention and collaborate in fall prevention activities, services, and advocacy efforts.
2. Encourage local public health and aging agencies in partnership with other community organizations to develop an inventory of local fall prevention programs and resources as a foundation for information and referral networks.
3. Recommend CDA and AAAs to incorporate fall prevention in their upcoming master state and local area plans

Community Programs – B

1. Encourage California’s 33 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to a) adopt fall prevention as part of their mission, b) incorporate fall prevention in their upcoming needs assessments and area plans, and c) encourage and support Title III contractors to include evidence-based fall prevention programs as part of their activities
2. Encourage educational institutions such as community college districts and professional and paraprofessional caregiver training programs to incorporate into their curriculum evidence-based fall prevention programs for older adults.
3. Ensure that local Departments of Public Health Take a leadership role by appointing a staff member as the point person for senior injury prevention and coordinating county-level fall prevention activities, services, and advocacy efforts.

Education & Training

1. Educate older consumers and their family caregivers about their crucial role in fall prevention and management through the statewide network of Caregiver Resource Centers and Public Authorities.
2. Empower state-level advocacy and professional organizations (e.g., AARP, Older Women's League, State Independent Living Council, Aging Services of California) to educate their members about their stake in fall risk, prevention, and management.
3. Train physicians, NPs, nurses, and physician assistants on evidence-based practice guidelines (e.g., American Geriatrics Society, ACOVE) for fall risk assessment and management to ensure their incorporation into all primary care settings serving older adults.

Health Care

1. Encourage health care organizations to include standardized fall history screening questions in initial and periodic (i.e., change in condition or annual) follow-up visits to facilitate and initiate in-depth assessment, risk management and interventions.
2. Improve California’s ability to gather accurate information on falls from multiple data sets by developing a standard definition and set of reporting methods for falls from all relevant sources at state and local levels.
3. Encourage professional associations that interface with seniors to establish fall prevention education and intervention programs for their members.

Healthy Lifestyles & Recreation

1. Develop, publicize and maintain a list/directory of well-rounded local community-based exercise programs and classes for older adults (from healthy to frail) that incorporate exercises to improve muscle strength and endurance, balance, mobility, and flexibility for fall prevention.
2. Develop fall-prevention media outreach campaign (e.g., radio, television, internet, Public Service Announcements, and other programming) promoting healthy lifestyle issues (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, and vision issues) appropriate for ethnically, educationally, and geographically diverse older adults.
3. Expand the number of Active Living By DesignTM community partnerships in California that promote healthy lifestyles and increase physical activity levels of older adults by addressing community built-environment issues (e.g., sidewalks, trails, parks).

Safe Housing & Communities

1. Include fall prevention guidelines in State and local planning documents related to overall development (e.g., city general plans), aging services, housing, parks/recreation, transportation, circulation, street/sidewalk repair, and emergency/disaster.
2. Encourage state and local jurisdictions to use planning tools, such as Condition of Approval, to provide incentives for local developers to incorporate the principles of Universal Design and Home Modifications.
3. Develop new and more reliable sources of funding for home assessments by appropriately trained professionals (e.g., occupational and physical therapists) and for home modifications.

Cross Cutting Recommendations

1. Institute a statewide Fall Prevention Awareness Week, with a Governor's proclamation, press events and public awareness activities.
2. Establish a permanent statewide fall prevention task force that includes Departments of Aging, Public Health, Health Care Services, Housing and Transportation, to coordinate state-level programs and activities.
3. Convene a statewide fall prevention Summit every 3 years.
4. Develop and widely disseminate culturally appropriate fall prevention information to all community organizations serving older adults (e.g., hospitals, senior and community centers, libraries, recreation and parks, bookstores, religious entities).

During a public hearing on December 7, the day after the Summit, representatives of the California Commission on Aging (CCoA) promised to support fall prevention as one of the public health issues of 2008. The commissioners reacted enthusiastically to the presentation of 22 policy recommendations, all shaped by concerned Summit participants who fully responded to the challenge of keeping older Californians healthy and on their feet.

For a Word Document of the recommendations: Click Here