Putnam Wins $375K Grant For Fall Prevention Programs In The HV

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — Putnam County’s Office for Senior Resources has won a $273,000 grant to promote effective fall prevention programs for elderly residents in the lower Hudson Valley.

It's an important public-health initiative. The National Council on Aging says one in four Americans aged 65+ fall each year. Each year about $50 billion is spent on medical costs related to non-fatal fall injuries and $754 million is spent related to fatal falls — and the financial toll for older adult falls may exceed $101 billion by 2030. According to the Centers for Disease Control, falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among adults 65 and older. Suffice it to say that 10,000 people in the United States turn 65 every day.

Putnam's OSR will be the lead agency in a five-county partnership with its neighboring offices for the aging in Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Ulster.

"This regional collaboration was an instrumental factor that contributed to being awarded the grant," said OSR Director Michael Cunningham in the announcement. "Additionally, during the pandemic we experienced the value of remote programming to help combat social isolation and one element of the grant will enable us to offer newly developed virtual programs to homebound seniors."

OSR is among just 11 grant-winners nationwide. Other recipients include major universities, state departments of health, and state departments for aging.

OSR and its partners plan to engage more than 1,000 participants in evidence-based fall prevention programs in five counties through both in-person and virtual classes.

The overall purposes of this 3-year grant are:

• Through partnerships, develop a result-based, comprehensive strategy for reducing falls and falls risk among older adults and adults with disabilities living in your community
• Significantly increase the number of older adults and adults with disabilities who participate in evidence-based falls prevention programs, while concurrently pursuing the sustainability of these programs beyond the end of the grant period
• Develop partnerships with area hospital systems and insurance companies to improve care coordination.
• Build revenue capacity for sustaining funding needed for these programs beyond the grant period.

The programs aim to give elderly residents of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Ulster counties goals, strategies and action steps to increase physical mobility, reduce the impact of medications as a risk factor, and improve safety in their home and surrounding environments.

"We all know how devastating falls can be to senior citizens,” Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell said. "This generous grant will help fund programs that will improve the quality of life for our seniors and those with disabilities. It may even save some lives, as our more and more seniors learn vital strategies to can prevent them from taking serious falls."

MORE: Check out the National Council on Aging's section on fall prevention here. Learn about National Falls Prevention Awareness Week 2021 here.