December 13th, 2018
Introduction
Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among adults 65 and older and 10,000 people in the United States turn 65 every day. Community-based organizations (CBOs) play an important role in promoting the health and well-being of the residents in their community. Many of the services provided by CBOs like yours help people of all ages maintain healthy lifestyles and improve their quality of life. This includes expanding efforts to reduce falls among older adults.
CBOs who want to prevent falls recognize that they must offer effective evidence-based fall prevention programs. However, choosing a fall prevention program that is appropriate for clients, readily available with training and tools in place, and affordable can be a daunting task.
The purpose of this guide is to provide information to help CBOs choose and implement evidence-based fall prevention programs based on their organization’s goals and clients’ needs. It also describes the organizational resources and partners needed to support and sustain the program.
This guide addresses questions that are important to CBOs when implementing fall prevention programs such as:
- How do we find a fall prevention program that best meets the needs of our clients?
- How can we know that this program works and will achieve the desired results?
- What resources will be needed to support it?
- What partners should we consider to help us offer
the program? - How can we support and sustain the program into
the future?