The links below contained detailed information for the upcoming 2017 Safe States Alliance Annual Meeting, taking place September 12-14, 2017 in Aurora, Colorado.
Please note:
- A total of five concurrent sessions will take place during the Annual Meeting, and there will be up to five breakouts occurring simultaneously during each of those concurrent sessions. Within each breakout, there will be up to four presentations that take place.
- This online system does not allow us to embed the individual presentations within each breakout. Please note the session presentations listed under each Concurrent Breakout title for associated content.
- The on-site mobile app WILL embed these sessions for ease of use.
- A printable, detailed agenda can be found on the 2017 Annual Meeting website.
- If you have any questions, please contact info@safestates.org
- All session times and locations are tentative and subject to change. Safe States will continue to update these details as changes take place.
Strengthening Connections to Address the Escalating Public Health Issue of Older Adult Falls
Learning Objectives
1. Examine cross-sector strategies two State Health Departments (SHDs) are using to address older adult falls prevention.
2. Discover how the National Council on Aging’s National Falls Prevention Resource Center is strengthening national, state, and local connections to raise awareness and disseminate evidence-based falls prevention programs.
Statement of Purpose
Falls are a growing public health issue and the leading cause of injuries, injury deaths, and traumatic brain injuries for people 65+. Every 11 seconds, an older adult is seen in an Emergency Department for a fall injury, and every 19 minutes, and older adult dies from a fall-related injury.
This session will demonstrate how SHDs are climbing to great heights to reduce older adult falls and falls risks through innovative strategies and cross-sector collaborations. It will also highlight national efforts to address falls prevention.
Methods/Approach
The Iowa SHD will discuss its implementation of a statewide referral process for evidence-based falls prevention programs (EBFPPs) and efforts to sustain programs through health care reimbursement. The North Carolina Division of Public Health will present its cross-sector collaboration to create a statewide database for EBFPPs and referrals. Finally, the National Council on Aging’s National Falls Prevention Resource Center will address innovative strategies SHDs and cross-sector organizational partners are using across the country to reduce older adult fall risks and fall-related injuries as well as a national falls prevention social marketing campaign.
Results
Over 2,272 older adults in IA and more than 3,200 older adults in NC participated in EBFPPs between September 1, 2014 and March 31, 2017. Nationally, over 37,000 older adults participated during that time period. These EBFPPs have been proven to reduce falls and decrease health care costs. From a social marketing perspective, last year’s Falls Prevention Awareness Day campaign climbed to great heights by reaching 101 million people in the U.S.
Conclusions & Significance to the Field
With our country’s rapidly increasing aging population, older adult falls and associated costs will continue to increase. This session will demonstrate how SHD and national efforts are making a difference to raise awareness about falls prevention, reduce falls risks through the dissemination of EBFPPs, and strengthen clinical-community collaborations to address this escalating public health issue.
Presenters
Ellen C. Schneider, MBA, UNC-Chapel Hill/National Council on Aging's National Falls Prevention Resource Center
Biography
Ms. Ellen Schneider, MBA, is a Research Scientist with UNC-Chapel Hill and has been a consultant with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) since 2006, working with NCOA’s National Falls Prevention Resource Center. Ms. Schneider’s primary areas of focus include falls prevention and healthy aging. She has provided technical assistance to more than 30 states to establish falls prevention coalitions and disseminate evidence-based falls prevention programs. Ms. Schneider co-leads the National Falls Free® Initiative and has worked extensively with State Health Departments, the CDC, and the aging services network to build falls prevention infrastructure and implement policy, programming, and systems change.
On the state level, Ms. Schneider is a co-founder and co-facilitator of the North Carolina Falls Prevention Coalition. She also is a dissemination leader with the Carolina Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program to link clinical practice with community-based services and improve health outcomes for older adults and their families.
Binnie LeHew, MSW, Iowa Department of Public Health
Biography
Ms. Binnie LeHew is an executive officer for the Office of Disability, Injury & Violence Prevention at the Iowa Department of Public Health, where she has worked for the past 20 years. She received her master’s degree in Social Work at the U. of Iowa and is licensed to practice clinical social in Iowa.
The Office includes a variety of programs such as violence against women prevention, suicide prevention and traumatic brain injury programs. She personally manages Iowa’s Violent Death Reporting System, Domestic Abuse Death Review Team and Falls Prevention. Ms. LeHew is the current President of the Safe States Alliance, a national association representing injury and violence prevention professionals and has received several state and national awards for her work in the field
Nicolle Miller, MS, MPH, RD, LDN, NC Center for Health & Wellness, UNC Asheville
Biography
Ms. Nicolle Miller is the Director of State and Community Collaborations at the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness at UNC Asheville. In this role, Nicolle facilitates partnership development among multi-sector organizations to build a culture of health, advance health equity, and improve community conditions that impact health outcomes in North Carolina. Two initiatives Nicolle manages include the Healthy Aging NC Resource Center and Culture of Results. The Healthy Aging NC Resource Center serves as a single point of entry for evidence-based health promotion programs offered in community sites. These include programs such as: A Matter of Balance, Tai Chi for Arthritis, YMCA Moving for Better Balance, the Otago Exercise Program, and the Stanford University Chronic Disease Self-Management Education suite of programs. Culture of Results programming allows Nicolle, on behalf of UNC Asheville, to share the impact these, and other programs have on the communities served.
Ms. Nidhi Sachdeva, MPH, NC Division of Public Health
Biography
Ms. Nidhi Sachdeva is an Injury Prevention Consultant in the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch of the North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH) where she leads strategic planning, partnership development, and local capacity building for injury and violence prevention efforts around the state. She has worked in public health in various capacities and levels for the past 13 years within government (local and state) and public research universities. At the DPH, she works directly with local health departments to provide technical assistance on evidence-based strategies, training, and support for various injury and violence prevention topics, including sexual violence, suicide, falls, TBI, motor vehicle crashes, and drug poisoning and overdose. Nidhi holds a Masters of Public Health in Health Behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.