Fall Prevention Center of Excellence Gets Off the Ground

In October 2004 the Archstone Foundation funded the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence. In California alone 1.3 million mature adults over the age of 65 fall each year. And of that group 213,000 will suffer a debilitating injury or death. This new center will involve the collaboration of the USC Andrus Gerontology Center, the Center for Successful Aging at Cal State Fullerton, the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the VA's Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, UCLA, and the State of California's Department of Health Services.

The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence as a whole will conduct assessments and trials to determine the best ways to prevent falls among mature adults. The center will also provide training for professionals in the areas of home modification so that they are aware of what environmental changes are needed to lessen the chances of falling in the home. Training in medication management will help health professionals understand the interaction of certain drugs that make mature adults more prone to falls. The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence will create a program on preventing falls that can be implemented in other areas of the country.

The directors of the center are Jon Pynoos PhD, Debra Rose, PhD, and Laurence Rubenstein, M.D., M.P.H. Jon Pynoos, PhD is the director of the National Resource Center on Housing and Home Modification and a professor of gerontology at the USC Andrus Gerontology Center. Debra Rose, PhD is a professor of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton and the developer of Fall Proof Program™. Laurence Rubenstein, M.D., M.P.H. is the director of Greater Los Geriatric and Clinical Center at the VA's Los Angeles Healthcare System and a professor of geriatrics at UCLA.

For more information on the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence watch for the new website http://www.stopfalls.org.

Source: Vitality. "Newly Created Fall Prevention Center of Excellence to Address Pressing Concern of Older Adults". Winter 2004.

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Measuring Disability: Are You Considered Disabled?

AARP’s Public Policy Institute recently completed a review of four federally funded surveys to find out how the government defines disability. AARP’s report, Disability: Federal Survey Definitions, Measurement and Estimate, can be accessed online...
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The way disability is defined is important to federal and state programs. Depending on the federal definition of disability, this can increase or decrease the number of people who are considered disabled. This affects how programs are funded and which services are available to the disabled. The report discusses how limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) define the disability. Functioning level may change who is considered disabled for different programs.

The four surveys included in the report include the American Community Survey, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the National Health Interview Survey, and the National Long Term Care Survey. Three of the surveys include data on disability for persons of all ages and those over 65+ years of age. The National Long Term Care Survey is the only one that includes persons 65+ years of age. Other issues discussed include the variability in the sample size used for each survey and how long a disability must be present before a person is considered disabled.

Source: AARP Public Policy Institute Data Digest “Disability federal survey definitions, measurement and estimates” (August 2004)

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