2008 Falls Prevention Symposium

Falls are not an inevitable outcome of aging, yet falls are Dane County’s number one cause of injury hospitalization. Older adults suffer the brunt of these debilitating, often fatal, and in most cases, preventable falls.

Safe Communities Falls Prevention Task Force, in partnership with Madison Patient Safety Collaborative, will conduct a second Falls Prevention Symposium May 7, 2008. The symposium will feature falls prevention experts Jane Mahoney, MD; Robert Przybelski, MD, MS, Terry Shea, PT, GCS, NCS, and Joyce Pohl, PT. Dr. Mahoney and Ms. Shea were co-principal investigators in a one-of-its kind Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC) falls prevention study, and along with Dr. Przybelski, lead UW Health’s Falls Clinic.

Falls Prevention Symposium seek to create consistent knowledge and wide dissemination of proven falls prevention methods among community medical professionals and is a step toward meeting the Task Force goal of reducing falls-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits by 10% over three years.

Eighty-five clinicians (primary care physicians, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses) and physical therapists participated in our first falls prevention symposium in September, 2007. Participant evaluations were what planners hope will be the first in a series of educational sessions geared toward medical professionals.

Clincians will learn the common, reversible causes of falls; effective reimbursement strategies; and how to make meaningful assessments and evidence-based interventions in less than 15 minutes. Physical therapists will receive specialized training in the Otago exercise program to prevent falls. This method, developed in New Zealand, has been shown to reduce falls among older adults by 30%.