Background and Goals
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for people 65 years of age and older. Every 14 seconds, an older adult is seen in an emergency department for a fall-related injury.
To help address this growing epidemic, ACL has awarded more than $8 million in grants financed solely by the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
These grants have been awarded to domestic public and private nonprofit entities, state agencies, community-based organizations, universities, and tribal organizations. ACL also funds a nonprofit organization to serve as the first-ever ACL National Falls Prevention Resource Center.
The Evidence-Based Falls Prevention Programs cooperative agreements are designed to achieve two major goals:
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Goal 1: Significantly increase the number of older adults and adults with disabilities at risk of falls who participate in evidence-based community programs to reduce falls and falls risks.
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Goal 2: Build partnerships and/or secure contracts with the health care sector and identify innovative funding arrangements that can support these evidence-based falls prevention programs while embedding the programs into an integrated, sustainable, evidence-based prevention program network.
- Grantee Progress
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Since the beginning of this grant program, more than 48,000 older adults in have taken part in evidence-based falls prevention programs such as A Matter of Balance, Stepping On, and Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance. In this time, more than 4,000 workshops have been held in every region of the United States.
The average age of a participant in an ACL-funded falls program is 76, with one in five having experienced a fall within the last three months prior to starting the program.
After taking part in the programs funded through these grants, 89 percent of participants report a reduced fear of falling. Furthermore, participants reported taking the following actions to reduce their chance of a fall:
- 77 percent did exercises they learned in the program at home
- 53 percent made changes in their home
- 43 percent talked to a family member or friend about how they can reduce their fall risk
- 27 percent had their vision checked
- 26 percent had their medications reviewed by a health care provider or pharmacist
- 21 percent talked to a health care provider or pharmacist
- Fiscal Year 2018 Grants
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FY 2018 Awardees
Grantee Award Amount t $543,601
$542,554
$543,601
The New York State Department of Health/Health Research, Inc., NY
$542,554
$539,839
$148,752
$150,000
$543,554
$107,447
$543,601
- Fiscal Year 2017 Grants
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FY 2017 Awardees
Grantee Award Amount University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC $599,755 Partners in Care Foundation, Inc., CA $600,000 United Way of Tarrant County, TX $599,999 Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, VA $554,561 Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, WI $468,018 Trustees of Dartmouth College, NH $599,955 Utah Department of Health, UT $599,760 - Fiscal Year 2016 Grants
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FY 2016 Awardees
Grantee Award Amount $570,538
Iowa Department of Public Health, IA $585,447 MAC, Inc., MD $582,656 Marymount University, VA $479,821 New Mexico Department of Health, NM $561,955 Rush University Medical Center, IL $367,699 Southern Maine Agency on Aging, ME $478,779 Indian Health Council, CA $150,000 Inter Tribal Council of AZ, Inc., AZ $150,000 Spirit Lake Tribe, ND $149,589 - Fiscal Year 2015 Grants
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Grantee Award Amount Partners in Care Foundation, CA $684,000 $558,997
$510,389
New Jersey Department of Human Services $509,000 New York State Department of Health $509,311 $602,799
$695,000
- Fiscal Year 2014 Grants
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FY 2014 Awardees
Grantee Award Amount National Council on Aging (serving as the Resource Center)
$400,000
$400,000
$492,960
$223,100
$399,918
$100,000
$400,000
$385,840
$99,999
$42,532
Minnesota Board on Aging $500,000 $99,816
$535,059
$465,530
- National Falls Prevention Resource Center
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ACL funds a National Falls Prevention Resource Center to increase public awareness and educate consumers and professionals about falls risks and how to prevent falls. The Resource Center is housed at the National Council on Aging’s Center for Healthy Aging.
The National Falls Prevention Resource Center cooperative agreement is designed to achieve two major goals:
Goal 1: Increase public education about the risks of falls and how to prevent them.
Goal 2: Support and stimulate the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based community programs and strategies proven to reduce the incidence of falls among seniors.
The Resource Center serves as the national clearinghouse of tools, best practices, and other information on falls and fall prevention. Access these resources at their website: https://www.ncoa.org/healthy-aging/falls-prevention/.