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Falls Prevention Hall of Fame 2011-2012

NCOA is pleased to recognize the recipients of the Falls Free© “Falls Prevention Certificate of Appreciation.”  To receive the certificate, recipients must have demonstrated significant impact in falls prevention in their state. Recipients are selected by their state Falls Prevention Coalition leadership.

Florida

• Florida Association for Area Agencies on Aging for implementing evidence-based Senior Falls Prevention Initiatives to the seniors within their local communities.
• Dr. Charles Maitland, Florida State University, College of Medicine, for ongoing efforts to increase health care providers knowledge during Florida’s Statewide Falls Prevention Awareness Day.
• Dr. Alice Pomidor, Florida State University, College of Medicine for ongoing efforts to increase health care providers knowledge during Florida’s Statewide Falls Prevention Awareness Day.
• Brain Injury Association of Florida, Inc. - Valerie Breen for ongoing efforts to increase health care providers knowledge during Florida’s Statewide Falls Prevention Awareness Day.
• Community Aging & Retirement Services, Inc.for ongoing efforts to increase health care providers knowledge during Florida’s Statewide Falls Prevention Awareness Day .
• StepWise Lee – Mark Tesoro and Syndi Bultman for an active Falls Prevention Coalition within the state.
• Health Foundation of South Florida for implementing Senior Falls Prevention Initiatives to the seniors within their local communities.
• Health First – Mark Brimer, PhDfor serving as an active member and Co-Chair for the Statewide Falls Prevention Coalition and Department of Health’s Falls Prevention goal team.
• Winter Park Health Foundation – Diana Silveyfor Implementing Falls Prevention Initiatives to the seniors within their local community and serving as an active member on the Statewide Falls Prevention Coalition and Department of Health’s Falls Prevention goal team.
  
  Learn more about about the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition.

Maine

• Elaine McMahonMS, RN is currently the Program Manager, Clinical Services for MaineHealth’s Partnership for Healthy Aging and Elder Care Services  in Portland, Maine.  Elaine was a key member of the team who translated the original A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls program, developed at Boston University and taught by healthcare professionals, into a program that could be taught by lay leaders. She helped to adapt the curriculum and develop new training materials for the Matter of Balance/Volunteer Lay Leader Model, which has been disseminated throughout Maine and the country. Elaine also helped to lead the MaineHealth Fall Prevention in Long-Term Care Workgroup. She shared her expertise in the development of the Falls Management Program Toolkit, based on a program developed by the Emory University Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Department of Medicine, and supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In September 2011, she organized the first MaineHealth Falls Prevention Summit, bringing together healthcare professionals from all over the State of Maine, including representatives from hospitals, assisted living and long term care facilities, EMS, and the community.  She is a co-chair of the MaineHealth Falls Prevention Collaborative, which was formed as a result of the summit. The Collaborative’s goal is to implement a system-wide fall prevention initiative across the continuum of care, resulting in a decrease in falls and fall-related injuries. Elaine is also involved in the EMS Falls Prevention Workgroup.
• Patti League, RN, is currently the Program Manager for the Matter of Balance Volunteer Lay Leader Model. During Patti’s career as a nurse, she has maintained a passion for helping older adults live at their fullest levels of function.  She was involved with the original A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls program and is now responsible for disseminating the Volunteer Lay Leader Model internationally.  Patti has coordinated and led the training for Master Trainers in 37 states and British Columbia.  Her technical support for the program goes above and beyond, constantly sharing websites, resources and articles about falls and other challenges that older adults face.  She conducts quarterly conference calls for all Master Trainers, providing updates on the Matter of Balance program and creating an opportunity for Master Trainers to gain knowledge and ideas from each other.
  
  Learn more about about the Maine Falls Prevention Coalition.

Massachusetts

• Senator Richard T. Moore. As a seventh term member of the Massachusetts Senate and current Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, Sen. Moore has helped lead the fight in the Massachusetts Legislature for more focus on the serious issue of older adult falls and for several years has been a sponsor of the Coalition’s annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day event at the MA State House.  In 2010, Sen. Moore was instrumental in ensuring passage of health care reform legislation that included a provision creating a new 11 member Massachusetts Commission on Falls Prevention. 
• Holly Hackman, MD, MPH. As a senior injury prevention epidemiologist, for the MA DPH, Division of Violence and Injury Prevention, Holly has worked passionately on fall injury surveillance and prevention research and helped draft a 2008 DPH report – Unintentional Fall-Related Injuries Among Massachusetts Older Adult, the first comprehensive statewide report on older adult falls, considered to be a milestone in the Massachusetts falls prevention effort.
• Worcester Senior Support Team - Falls Prevention Program. The Division of Elder Affairs of Worcester, MA and the Senior Support Team has established a falls prevention model involving an innovative collaboration of public safety (including Police, Fire and EMS services), health and social service agencies working together to reduce the occurrence of older adult falls.  Through the Team’s outreach efforts and follow-up system, Worcester area seniors, especially those at high risk for falls, are accessing the services they need to live more safely in their communities. 
• Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Boston Falls Prevention Team. The VNA of Boston Falls Prevention Team and its multi-disciplinary group of dedicated health care professionals have launched and implemented an initiative designed to minimize older adult falls in the home, while also incorporating a strong educational component to raise the levels of prevention awareness of patients, their caretakers, VNA staff and clinicians.
• Addison Gilbert Hospital- Safe Steps for Seniors Program. The Safe Steps for Seniors Program at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, MA features a unique partnership between acute care, outpatient rehabilitation, primary care, elder services and insurance providers. The program offers a community-based falls prevention exercise program held in a hospital setting focused on heightening older adult safety awareness and confidence in mobility. (The program was developed by Kathleen Coale, PT, DPT, and also includes instructor, Mary Ellen Zielski, a certified athletic trainer).
• Carroll Center for the Blind-Project Safe Home. The Carroll Center has created a program known as Project Safe Home that provides free home visits by certified orientation and mobility specialists to assess and identify fall safety hazards in the home environments of adults, 60 years and older with low vision or legal blindness-a population that can be more prone to falls.  Center staff provide grab bar installation, secure loose carpeting, and offer other needed services to help alleviate fall risks at home.
• MA Department of Developmental Services, Office of Quality Management. The MA Department of Developmental Services implemented a state-wide yearlong falls prevention campaign to improve the lives and reduce the fall risks of adults with intellectual disabilities, living in the community.  The campaign included falls prevention staff trainings and a pilot intervention project with the Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research at the Eunice K. Shriver Center (UMass Medical School).
  
  Learn more about about the Massachusetts Falls Prevention Coalition.

Missouri

• Margaret T. Donnelly, Director of Department of Health and Senior Services for her continued support of the Show Me Falls Free Missouri Coalition and providing a staff liaison to assist the coalition.
• Jodee Frederick, Director, Division of Administration, Clay County Public Health Center for her collaboration with the local Clay and Platte County Senior  Falls Coalition on fall prevention activities and working with the Silver Haired Legislators and helping them submit falls prevention as a priority during the October session in 2010.
• Cyndee Howell, Program Manager, Missouri Alliance for Home Care, for planning and organizing the first falls prevention activity for the Coalition.
• Charisse Pappas, Public Information Coordinator, Department of Health and Senior Services for helping the Coalition with public awareness, media coverage, developing the website, press toolkit and materials.
• Paul G. Perniciaro, BS Pharm, RPh, CGP, FASCP, President, Director of Consultant Pharmacy Services, for getting several pharmacists involved on fall prevention day each year providing medication reviews and doing presentations in the community on how to develop local fall prevention coalitions.
• Sarah Lovegreen, Health Manager, OASIS, for her ongoing support and consistent leadership for the State Show Me Falls Free Missouri State Coalition.
• Helen Lach, PhD, RN, GCNS-BC, Associate Professor, Saint Louis University School of Nursing, for developing the electronic form to collect data for on-going presentations, events, health fairs, educational programs, screenings (balance and vision), exercise classes, Matter of Balance classes, medication reviews and the number of individuals reached by coalition members and the activities for the National Falls Prevention Day.
• Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) for the collaboration and partnership between AAA and the Missouri Show Me Falls Free Mo Coalition in implementing statewide the “Steady As You Go “ program providing public education and exercise programs in senior centers on falls prevention.
• Carmen Abbott, PhD, PT, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Missouri, Department of Physical Therapy for helping organizing Physical Therapists statewide on fall prevention activities and ensuring best practices are promoting within the coalition.
• Vicki Whitsitt, Missouri Matter of Balance Master Trainer and advocate for fall prevention in all the senior centers she covers in her 13 county region.
• Elizabeth Griffith, Missouri Matter of Balance Master Trainer and advocate for fall prevention in the public health sector through the Clay County Public Health Center.
• Ernestine (Ernie) Hall, provides resource sharing with the local and state community on fall prevention through Heartland hospital. Is an instructor for Tai Chi for Better Balance in which Ms. Hall provided a presentation to all coalition members at our April 2012 meeting   showing her dedication to falls prevention.
• Share Bane, shows her dedication to falls prevention through the University of Missouri in Kansas City- Center on Aging Studies and providing presentations.
• Susan Stark, shows her dedication to falls prevention through the Washington School of Medicine Program in Occupational Therapy and providing presentations for the community on falls prevention.
• Sharon Shepherd, shows her dedication to falls prevention through St. Mary’s Health Center Educational Department by providing information on falls prevention to the community.
  
  Learn more about about Show Me Falls Free Missouri.

New Jersey

• Pam Baseshore, EdD, MPH, Associate Director for Education and Assistant Professor at New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, UMDNJ-SOM,  NJ's Geriatric Education Center for her crucial role in the development of a new Standing Tall Against Falls training module, dedicating staff time and resources to develop a user friendly impactful fall prevention presentation. 
  
  Learn more about the New Jersey Fall Prevention Workgroup.