USA: Conference To Focus On Fall Prevention For Seniors

HONOLULU, Hawai'i (The Honolulu Advertiser), October 18, 2007: Approximately every five hours, an elderly person living in Hawai'i is hospitalized as a result of falling. The Hawai'i State Department of Health will sponsor a conference on fall prevention to be held on October 23. The conference is an effort to educate health professionals, caregivers and seniors on the best practices to prevent falls and their serious consequences. For seniors, injuries due to falls are a major barrier to healthy aging and a critical public health problem. Within the senior population: * Falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries, injury-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits. * Falls cause 80 percent of the hospitalizations for traumatic brain injuries (TBI). * In Hawai'i every year, on average, 65 seniors die, 1760 are hospitalized, and 4,460 are treated in an emergency department because of falls. "Falls can be tragic and devastating for seniors age 65 or older; however these accidents are preventable," state Health Director, Chiyome Fukino, M.D. "Fall prevention is critical to the independence and quality of life for our kupuna." "Hospitalization costs for falls in the elderly exceed $45 million dollars per year in Hawai'i, and about half of that (53 percent) is paid by Medicare/Medicaid," said Dan Galanis, PhD, an epidemiologist for the DOH's Injury Prevention Program. This does not take into account the rehabilitation costs, or the enormous fiscal and emotional burden on the families that care for the fall-injured seniors after their release to home monitored living or a long-term care facility. One of the contributing factors to seniors falling is dizziness caused by multiple medications. The DOH is partnering with pharmacists to help inform seniors of medications that may cause dizziness that can lead to falls. © COPYRIGHT 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser