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Florida Falls Prevention Coalition

History of the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition:
In recognition of the growing problem of falls and fall related injuries in older adults and the growing number of older adults in Florida, the Office of Injury Prevention (OIP) within the Department of Health (DOH) partnered with the Communities for a Lifetime Bureau, within the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA), to host the initial Falls Prevention for Florida’s Seniors meeting held on June 24, 2008. The meeting had approximately 85 attendees and served as the first step in establishing a statewide coalition.

Key agencies and providers were invited to hear Kyla Shelton (OIP staff) present Florida’s senior falls data. Lynn Beattie (National Council on Aging) shared a national perspective on senior falls prevention and statewide coalitions and Linda Scarpetta (Michigan Department of Community Health) shared the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant funded initiatives and activities in Michigan. Peggy Haynes (A Matter of Balance) shared information on the program from a national perspective and Martha Pelaez (Healthy Aging Collaborative of South Florida) shared the Matter of Balance program from a state perspective and new initiatives being developed through the Health Foundation of South Florida that serves Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties. John Hemphill (CDC) discussed preventing falls through environmental changes in residential housing. Don Hughes (City of Satellite Beach Fire Department) and Mark Brimer, City of Satellite Beach Mayor) presented a community-based multi-faceted strategy for falls prevention. The strategy included collaborative awareness messages, the fire department’s multi-step “fall” problem project, and a business environmental survey. The attendees were energized to see this community’s creative approach to falls prevention.

Capitalizing on that energy and interest, attendees were invited to discuss the next steps resulting in a consensus that Florida needed to work towards a statewide coalition to address this important issue.

Organizations that took the lead in developing the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition:
The Office of Injury Prevention (OIP) within the Department of Health (DOH) partnered with the Communities for a Lifetime Bureau, within the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) to explore key partner interest and commitment.

Goals and objectives of the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition:
The draft 2009-2013 Florida Injury Prevention Strategic Plan facilitated by the Office of Injury Prevention and the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council (FIPAC) includes the following fall prevention goal: Establish a collaborative effort to provide statewide direction and focus for senior falls prevention efforts. The goal team responsible for this state plan goal will draft the goal strategies across five subheadings: Leadership; Funding; Advocacy; Interventions; and Data.

Funding the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition:
The Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council and goal teams’ activities are funded by the 2005-2010 CDC Injury Surveillance and Prevention grant. There is a funding section under the state plan’s senior falls prevention goal that will be used to explore additional funding and sustainability.

Organizations playing a key role in the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition:
The Office of Injury Prevention will be partnering with Department of Elder Affairs to recruit organizations to serve on the state plan’s senior falls prevention goal team.

Structure and function of the steering committee:
The Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Council and goal teams once appointed will meet twice a year in an “in person” meeting and are planning to meet quarterly through conference calls.

2-3 challenges encountered:
The greatest challenge is that the Office of Injury Prevention is new to the area of senior falls prevention and needs to strengthen its connectivity to the stakeholder community, especially aging. To make substantial progress, an inventory of current senior falls prevention activities/initiatives will need to be completed.

2-3 successes to share:
The data and the success of the June meeting are driving forces behind Florida’s taking steps towards establishing a statewide coalition.

Outcomes being monitored:
In this early stage of development outcomes are not yet established.

There is no web site currently available to learn more but the Office of Injury Prevention plans to add a section within their web pages to highlight senior falls prevention; it will include progress towards the establishment of a statewide coalition. It is envisioned that the Department of Elder Affairs will carry the same information on their web site and that both sites will link to each other.

For additional information about the Florida Falls Prevention Coalition and how you can be involved in this exciting work, contact:

Sarah Hinkel-Young, M.B.A, C.N.P.
CDC Grant Specialist
Office of Injury Prevention
Florida Department of Health
4052 Bald Cypress Way Bin #: C15
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1735
P: (850) 245-4444 x 2736
Sarah_Hinkel-Young@doh.state.fl.us

Michele Mulé
Department of Elder Affairs
Communities for a Lifetime Initiative
4040 Esplanade Way 250G
Tallahassee FL 32311
(850) 414-2000
mulem@elderaffairs.org

Website: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/DEMO/InjuryPrevention/SF_Coalition.htm