Promoting Fall Prevention Awareness in Your Community
Throughout the year, there are several opportunities to engage your community. From partnering with small local organizations to joining larger national and global events, any involvement goes a long way. Some of the benefits of professional involvement outside of the clinic environment may include: It’s rewarding for those involved, helps improve our professional image, and educates the public about what we do and how we can serve. Here are two such events that are great opportunities to get involved in - at any level:
National Fall Prevention Awareness Week (NFPAW) The National Council on Aging (NCOA) leads the Falls Free Initiative, a national effort to provide public education and support in addition to the promotion of evidence-based fall prevention programs and interventions that help government agencies, organizations, corporations and community members prevent falls. In 2008, the Falls Free State Coalitions on Falls Prevention Workgroup National Advocacy Workgroup requested that a national Fall Prevention Awareness Day (FPAD) be observed on the first day of Fall. Soon after, it gained bipartisan sponsorship in the U.S. Senate and has obtained bipartisan support every year since then. FPAD is observed by almost every State in the USA. Since 2020, the NCOA extended FPAD to a week-long event. Each year, the NCOA provides technical assistance and extensive resources to aid states and communities in observing the week. Be sure to check out their newest resources, including a Falls Prevention Awareness Week Promotion Toolkit and a webinar geared towards healthcare professionals.
Global PT Day of Service (PTDOS)
In 2012, Efosa Guobadia, PT, DPT & Josh D’Angelo, PT, DPT had a vision where clinicians, students and staff of the PT profession from around the world would come together to volunteer on the same day. Since then, PTDOS has grown amazingly, with service projects occurring every year in countries all over the world. PTOD coincides with National Physical Therapy Month; this year PTDOS will be held on Saturday, October 8th, 2022. Click here for more info including project ideas, how to participate and resources. There is no formal theme of PTOD; all volunteer projects from providing pro bono work (like balance screens and fall prevention) to collecting non-perishable food for your local food pantry are welcomed.
Barriers to Community Involvement
From talking to therapists and students about community involvement, I feel that there are common themes as to why there aren’t more of us engaging our older adults out of the clinical setting. Some felt community involvement is too time consuming while others said they don’t know how to get involved or don’t know how to turn their ideas into a reality. Several years ago, I felt this way too. My first efforts in falls promotion in my community were small, but important. I ordered STEADI toolkits for the therapists and students in my department along with brochures for our patients. I prepared a quick 2 minute spiel in case my colleagues were curious in the STEADI program and was ready to provide a detailed overview for those interested. At the same time, I began encouraging my patients to share STEADI materials with their families, friends and healthcare providers. The results? Some colleagues were intrigued, some began implementing STEADI tools in practice and many unfortunately weren’t ready for professional nourishment at that point in time. Almost all my patient’s used some of the STEADI tools to reduce risk of falls. A month later, the Executive Director of our facility asked if I would be interested in presenting a falls prevention lecture at a local senior center based on the STEADI toolkit.
So, how do you start? The answer is simple - think about what YOU are passionate about. Are you interested in providing balance screens? Providing a (in-person &/or virtual) lecture or workshop on fall prevention awareness? Reaching out to other disciplines in your organization? Organizing a meet and greet with local seniors? Providing an in-service to your colleagues? Organizing an exercise group for aging adults? The options are as wide as your imagination and creativity… as Walt Disney once said “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Have you seen the APTA Geriatrics Balance & Falls SIG Falls Prevention Awareness Toolkit? In 2019, I chaired a taskforce of the BFSIG that created the Falls Prevention Awareness Day Toolkit, the first of its kind for the APTA Geriatrics. The aim of the toolkit is to provide physical therapists all the resources they need to create a falls prevention event in commemoration of National Fall Prevention Awareness Day. We were thrilled by the overwhelming response. In less than ten months, almost 1,200 clinicians and students downloaded the toolkit. As the year progressed, the team decided they would update the toolkit to accommodate changes in the CDC’s STEADI material, to be more inclusive to students, and to promote falls prevention awareness events throughout the year. For our second edition, Falls Prevention Awareness Toolkit, A Comprehensive Guide to Professional & Community Engagement, the purpose is to provide clinicians and students all the resources they need to create falls prevention screening and/or awareness events throughout the year.
The resources provided within this toolkit were designed by clinicians for clinicians of any skill set or experience level organizing fall prevention awareness events throughout the year. The toolkit was designed to assist clinicians and students in creating and/or improving their community-based falls prevention events by utilizing current evidence and gaining exposure to a wide-variety of quality resources. The toolkit is open access for ALL, FREE of charge; membership to the APTA and/or APTA Geriatrics is not required. Click here to access the toolkit.
Here are some other resources to get you started:
Finding Key Partners in Your Community and/or State
I won’t lie, blindly contacting organizations and agencies can be time-consuming. However, the right partners can provide marketing and media coverage, help recruit attendees, and provide a location, resources and support for your event/activities. Below is a list of organizations, agencies and individuals that may be helpful. When going through this list, think about who would be most appropriate based on the type of involvement you're aiming to achieve. For example, a talk on healthy aging or fall prevention may be most appropriate for senior centers, local gyms/health clubs or senior living communities. Government agencies, community centers, senior centers and local fairs may be most beneficial for fall prevention events. Be prepared to synthesize what your intentions are and how you can benefit your community.If a contact isn’t interested in your ideas, ask how you can help the aging adult population in their organization or in your community. Believe it or not, this may lead to more exciting ideas! This list is ALWAYS evolving, so please feel free to share your experiences with the group! - Area Agencies on Aging (AAA)
- Community Centers
- Health Fairs
- Hospitals
- Fitness Centers
- Libraries
- Malls
- National Council for Aging (NCOA): Click here for programs and partners near you
- Older Adult Housing: ALF’s, SNF’s, senior communities
- Opticians Office
- Orthotist
- Places of worship
- PT Clinics
- Retailers: Specialty footwear, hardware and pharmacies
- Senior Centers
- Senior Meal Sites
- State Advocates, AGPT
- They work at the local level to advocate for older adults. Advocates are responsible for providing two-way communication between the AGPT and the State chapter, so they may have access to resources that can assist you with your efforts. They are also responsible for holding at least two activities each year to promote increased awareness and knowledge of PT for the older adult in your chapter, which may be another way for you to get involved in your State and community. Click here to find your State Advocate.
- Volunteer Organizations
In closing, anytime is a good time to get involved in your community, though using national and global campaigns is a great way to ease yourself in as there are plenty of resources readily available. This month, please begin to think about how you would like to get involved in your community. No action is too small!
Your colleague,
Haim D. Nesser, PT, DPT, CCI, CEEAA, CSRS, LSVT Vice Chair, APTANJ Geriatrics SIGAPTA Geriatrics State Advocate for New Jersey Clinical Co-Liaison, APTA Geriatrics, Balance & Falls SIG
Recommended Reading
Lusardi MM, Fritz S, Middleton A, et al. Determining Risk of Falls in Community Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Using Posttest Probability. Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy. 2017;40(1):1-36. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Free & Discounted Continuing Education Resources During the COVID-19 Response During this challenging time, there are many volunteers and organizations working tirelessly to provide professional support. We want to especially thank the teams of volunteers from the Private Practice Section and the PACER Taskforce from the Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Section for their dedication and effort. 1.The Cochrane Library, the gold-standard of high-quality, relevant, accessible systematic reviews and other synthesized research evidence will be available for free here during the COVID-19 pandemic response.
2. The Science of Well-Being, Yale's most popular class ever is available free online. The course is designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits.
3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added several webinars and self-paced courses related to COVID-19, infection control and public health here. a. Did you know that the CDC’s Stopping Elderly Accidents Deaths and Injuries (STEADI) initiative is an evidence-based older adult fall prevention strategy? STEADI consists of three core elements: screen patients for fall risk, assess a patient’s risk factors, and intervene to reduce risk by giving older adults tailored interventions. The CDC offers STEADI Older Adult Fall Prevention Online Training for Providers for FREE, which can be found here.
4. PhysicalTherapy.com is offering a free CEU course (one course per license number). Use promo code 1FREECOURSE at checkout. You will not need a credit card.
5. The Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Section is putting together a comprehensive webinar called PACER (Post-Acute COVID-19 Exercise & Rehabilitation), a collection of 16 videos that will be FREE for members and non-members of the APTA. See the video on our section on their YouTube channel or through the APTA Learning Center. There are currently 5 videos now available!
As always, feel free to email us with any question or concerns at aptanjgerisig@gmail.com. We are here to support you!
Submitted by Haim D. Nesser, PT, DPT, Vice Char, Geriatrics SIG
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