Frontiers in Public Health: Special Edition on Evidence-based Programming for Older Adults

Fall Prevention for Older Adults Highlighted

Every 13 seconds an older adult is injured from a fall in the United States. Every 20 minutes one of these older adults dies from a fall. But falls are not an inevitable part of aging. There are specific things that can be done to safeguard older adults so they stay healthy, active and independent longer.

This special edition of Frontiers in Public Health highlights evidence-based programming and clinical interventions for older adults. CDC authors collaborated and contributed to this important publication, which includes approximately 25 commentaries and 35 full-length articles. The volume is available online and will become an e-book in May 2015, providing researchers, clinicians, and community organizations the tools and information needed to protect and improve the health of the rapidly growing population of older adults in the United States and throughout the world. The full volume and upcoming e-book are available on the Frontiers website.

CDC and Older Adult Fall Prevention

CDC developed a tool kit for health care providers called Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries, or STEADI, designed to help make fall prevention an integral part of primary care.

STEADI includes three things clinicians can do during office visits with patients 65 and older:

• Ask patients if they have fallen in the past year, feel unsteady, or worry about falling;
• Review medications and stop, switch, or reduce the dosage of drugs that can increase the risk of falling; and
• Recommend vitamin D supplements of at least 800 IU/day with calcium.

CDC collaborates with federal and non-federal partners to build the knowledge base for fall prevention and to ensure the best evidence is used to guide action.

Learn More

• STEADI: Make STEADI Part of Your Medical Practice
• CDC Compendium of Effective Fall Interventions: What Works for Community-Dwelling Older Adults
• Preventing Falls: A Guide to Implementing Effective Community-Based Fall Prevention Programs

Spread the Word

Facebook: Falls are not an inevitable part of aging. Read the latest on fall prevention programs for older adults in the new special edition of Frontiers in Public Health. This is a Research Topic Issue of the Public Health Education and Promotion section of the journal highlighting evidence-based programming for older adults. http://bit.ly/1P6t1Ro

Twitter: Keep older adults safe! Updated falls resources, how-to guide http://go.usa.gov/3Bbqd & #CDC Compendium http://go.usa.gov/3BbqW.