{"id":1903,"date":"2020-09-22T11:24:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T11:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/blog\/marymount-continues-important-work-on-older-adult-falls-prevention-grant\/"},"modified":"2021-08-03T22:41:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T02:41:15","slug":"marymount-continues-important-work-on-older-adult-falls-prevention-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/marymount-continues-important-work-on-older-adult-falls-prevention-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"MU continues important work on Older Adult Falls Prevention Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall-related injury \u2014 and each year, more than three million older adults are injured in a fall. That translates to more than 850,000 hospitalizations, 29,000 deaths and $50 billion in annual health care costs.<\/p>\n

In response to this critical health issue, Marymount University and local senior-serving organizations have drawn on two federal grants for the past four years, totaling over $1 million, to help reduce the number of falls among older adults in Northern Virginia. Thanks to an initial grant from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, and a second grant in 2018, Marymount has laid the foundation for a falls prevention infrastructure across Northern Virginia.<\/p>\n

“Falls in older adults continue to be a major public health issue,” said Dr. Rita Wong, Associate Vice President for Research at Marymount and principal investigator of the grant team. “You can’t prevent all falls, but you can drastically reduce the number of older adults who fall, and particularly the number who fall and get hurt.”<\/p>\n

Joining Wong as investigators are Dr. Sara Pappa (Assistant Professor of Health and Human Performance, and coordinator of the Northern Virginia Falls Prevention Alliance), Dr. Uma Kelekar (Associate Professor of Health Care Management) and four faculty members from the Physical Therapy program \u2014 Dr. Diana Venskus, Dr. Cathy Elrod, Dr. Julie Ries and Dr. Jade Bender-Burnett.<\/p>\n

During National Falls Prevention Awareness Week, which lasts from Sept. 21-25, Marymount and its community partners are hosting several virtual falls prevention events (click here for more details)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result of grant funding, more than 378 people have been trained to be lay leaders of evidence-based falls prevention programs, 173 falls prevention workshops have been held across the region and the Northern Virginia Falls Prevention Alliance was established, which has more than 110 members.<\/p>\n

To date, these programs have reached 3,985 older adults. During the second round of funding, Marymount faculty are working to:<\/p>\n