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2017 Annual Meeting

del 12 al 14 de September del 2017

Aurora, Colorado

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:

Utilizing North Carolina Division of Public Health Injury Data to Support Community Prevention Efforts Around Fall Related Injuries among Older Adults

miércoles, el 13 de septiembre de 2017 a las 08:00–09:15 MDT
Conference Room 2
Learning Objectives
Statement of Purpose

Unintentional falls are a leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injury in the US and in NC. Dissemination of data is needed to bring attention to the issue and drive decisions related to the prioritization of populations and prevention programs. The Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) within the NC Division of Public Health has worked to make data accessible to community partners to support their work and help direct prevention efforts.

Methods/Approach

The IVPB utilized the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Injury Special Emphasis Report (SER) template for fall injuries among older adults to create and disseminate a tool to move falls injury data into action. The report was shared on the IVPB website and presented at a NC Falls Prevention Coalition Meeting. IVPB maintains relationships with community partners involved in falls prevention work, and helps with data requests as needed. IVPB recently created a map for Healthy Aging NC, the state’s resource center for evidence-based falls prevention programs, to depict rates of unintentional fall deaths by county.

Results

Presenting the SER at the Falls Prevention Coalition meeting exposed hospital representatives, emergency services providers, physical and occupational therapists, as well as Area Agencies on Aging to the large burden of fall-related injuries in NC. Data requested from IVPB has also been used in falls prevention interventions. Healthy Aging NC used the map of unintentional fall deaths to educate a variety of clinical and community partners across NC. In addition, the map has influenced Healthy Aging NC’s decision to target a geographic area with high unintentional fall death rates in a federal grant proposal that will embed evidence-based falls prevention programs into an integrated and sustainable prevention program network.

Conclusions & Significance to the Field

Strong connections between state departments of health and community partners working in the field are crucial. With rates of fall related injuries rapidly increasing, it becomes even more important for the dissemination of data to programs who can use it to inform prevention efforts, target groups at greatest risk, advocate for attention to the issue, and mobilize partners to join the prevention effort.

Presenters

Shana Geary, NC Division of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch
Biography

Ms. Shana Geary is a Council for State and Territorial Epidemiology (CSTE) Applied Epidemiology Fellow placed in the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch at the North Carolina Division of Public Health. The Fellowship is a national program to build and strengthen applied epidemiology capacity in state and local health departments. Shana is working with the NC Violent Death Reporting System and other surveillance systems on injury surveillance and improving this surveillance across systems. Shana graduated with her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology and Maternal and Child Health from the University of South Florida College of Public Health.

Co-Authors

Scott Proescholdbell, MPH, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services - Division of Public Health
Ayden Jones, Healthy Aging NC
Nicolle Miller, MS, MPH, RD, LDN
Ellen C. Schneider, MBA, UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention

Primary Contact

Shana Geary, NC Division of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch
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