The Health Foundation for Western and Central New York has awarded $580,219 in grants to organizations throughout western and central New York as part of the newest phase of its falls prevention initiative, Step Up to Stop Falls^®, Health Foundation President Ann F. Monroe announced Monday, March 4, 2013.

Each year, one in every three adults age 65 and over falls and one in 10 falls end up with a hospitalization. In fact, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths, hospitalizations and emergency department visits among adults 65 and older. Falls can result in lasting, serious consequences that affect a person's mobility, mental health and ability to live independently in the community.

“Falls can have a devastating physical and financial impact on older adults and can often be a trigger of decline that ultimately leads to an inability to remain in one’s own home or even death. The good news though, is that many falls are completely preventable,” Monroe said. 

The Health Foundation has been working to reduce falls among older adults since 2007, when it teamed up with local and regional elder care agencies to form the Western New York Falls Prevention Consortium.

Using what was learned in this early work, the effort expanded into the Step Up to Stop Falls Collaborative.  Coalitions and grantees in seven counties are working on projects focused on changing not only the behaviors and habits of seniors who are at risk for falls, but also in changing professional practices to support a better understanding about falls risks, assessment and intervention.  Participating counties include Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Onondaga and Tompkins.

The Foundation’s investment proved to be highly effective in reducing falls and produced the Step Up to Stop Falls Toolkit™ now available online.

As part of the next phase of Step Up to Stop Falls, the Health Foundation has awarded the following Erie County grantees additional funding to further strengthen their continuing ability to prevent falls: