Falls Prevention
As we age, we are at increased risk for falls. Falls can lead to injury and even hospitalization. Nutrition programs can team up with internal or external partners to help prevent falls by educating participants about the risk factors and how to address them through exercise, home modifications, assistive devices, and more.
Briefs
- Falls Prevention for Older Adults— Steps for staying safe (National Council on Aging)
- Falls Prevention: Tips To Prevent Falls— Falls prevention measures (Mayo Clinic)
- Prevent Falls and Fractures— Information on how to prevent falls (National Institute on Aging)
- What Medications Increase the Risk of Falling Among Older Adults— Article (National Council on Aging, 2022)
- Collecting Participant and Partner Data for ACL Chronic Disease Self-Management and Falls Prevention Evidence-Based Programs — Tip sheet detailing shared by grantees to improve data collection process (National Council on Aging, 2023)
Guides
- 4 Tips to Help You Talk to Older Adults About Preventing Falls— Article (National Council on Aging, 2022)
- How to Prevent Falls with Home Safety Modifications— Article (National Council on Aging, 2022)
- 6 Falls Prevention Steps to Help Your Older Loved Ones— Article (National Council on Aging, 2024)
- How To Use Incentives: A Guide for ACL CDSME and Falls Prevention Grantees— Overview of the most common types of incentives and how to use them effectively (National Council on Aging, 2023)
- Falls Prevention Programs: Saving Lives, Saving Money— Infographic on community-based programs reducing the risk of falls (National Council on Aging, 2022)
- Adaptive Equipment for Older Adults and Home Safety — Resource for integrating home medical equipment and fall prevention strategies for older adults (LifeCare Alliance)
Fact Sheets
- Falls Prevention Fact Sheet— Ten steps to help prevent falls and sustain older adults’ quality of life (Caring Senior Service, 2018)
- No-Fall Zone: Fall Prevention Tips for Seniors— Causes of falls around certain parts of the home and ways to prevent falls (Accessible Home Health Care)
- Nutrition & Fall Prevention— Fact sheet on the connection between nutrition and fall prevention (Veterans Affairs, 2016)
Tools & Toolkits
- Falls Prevention Awareness Week Toolkit— Toolkit hosted by NCOA and the Falls Free Initiative
- How To Recruit Older Adults for Evidence-Based Falls Prevention Programs on Social Media— NCOA toolkit to help your organization recruit more older adults to your evidence-based falls prevention programs
- Falls Prevention Conversation Guide for Caregivers— Falls prevention activities from NCOA to empower caregivers to assist loved ones
- National Falls Prevention Resource Center for Professionals— NCOA-hosted resource center
- Long Island Falls Free— Falls prevention education, resources, and programming to support older adult communities
- STEADI Older Adult Fall Prevention— Collection of patient and caregiver resources from the CDC relating to older adult falls
Presentations
- Healthy Aging Webinar With Tai Chi Demonstration (YouTube)— Thirty-minute webinar highlighting resources for healthy aging, malnutrition, and falls prevention as well as a Tai Chi warm-up demonstration
- Building Partnerships, Building Capacity: Connecting Grantees in Falls Prevention and Home Modification To Support Aging in Place and Community Living— One-hour NCOA webinar designed to connect ACL grantees with grantees of the Older Adult Home Modification Program (free registration required to view the video)
Reports
- 2023 Falls Prevention Awareness Week Impact Report — Detailed report on the impact of falls prevention campaigns across the country
- Strategies for Implementing the interRAI Home Care Frailty Scale with Home-Delivered Meal Clients— LifeCare Alliance study focused on home-delivered meal staff implementing a standardized frailty instrument with clients on a consistent basis