APTANJ Geriatric Special Interest Group: Fall Prevention Awareness Day 2019

This past Sunday, the APTANJ Geriatric Special Interest Group (SIG) successfully held its first ever inter-professional falls prevention event in Freehold, NJ, coordinated by APTANJ SIG member and Falls Prevention Event Coordinator, Haim Nesser, PT, DPT, CEEAA. It is the hope that this event will become the standard for future events across the nation.

During the spring, Haim had the opportunity to lead a team that developed a National Fall Prevention Awareness Day Toolkit, on behalf of the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy (Link for FREE access). His vision for the toolkit was to include a variety of other healthcare disciplines, as we all play a unique role in falls prevention. This event was a “test run” for the toolkit to demonstrate that it can and should be done. 

Here are some event highlights:

•  58 screens were performed (that’s 16 more than last year!).
•  40 volunteers, including clinicians (PT, OT, SLP), students (PT/OT), faculty (PT) and laymen, assisted during the event.
•  Students and faculty of DPT and OT programs from Kean University, Rutgers University, Seton Hall University and Stockton University were in attendance.

** A very special thank you to all the volunteers for being a part of this special project! We could not have done it without each and every one of you! **