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| Watch Your Step! | ||||
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Falls are the most common cause of injury in elderly persons, accounting for 84 percent of all hip fractures. Falls were also the second-leading cause of unintentional-injury deaths during 1996, numbering 14,100 (National Safety Council's Accident Facts). More than half occur at home and nearly four out of five involve a person 65 years of age or older. Because of the high health care costs and significant impact on the elderly, as well as the fact that many falls are preventable, the U.S. Public Health Service has identified the reduction of falls in older adults as a national public health objective. Watch Your Step! Being Safe and Sensible at Home is a training program originally developed by the Nursing Committee of the American Trauma Society's Pennsylvania Division. The program is geared toward older persons living in all types of homes. It offers interventions that can reduce the incidence and severity of falls, including geriatric medical assessments to improve any physical impairments, proper use of medications, modifying behavioral habits, removing safety hazards in the home, and appropriate exercise. New!The Watch Your Step! slide presentation has been converted to a PowerPoint presentation. The program also contains suggested narrative, and four handout materials: About Accident Prevention and Older People, Watch Your Step: A Safety Checklist, An Awareness Review (pre/post quiz), and Identifying Your Risk for Falls. Options for program presentations and follow-up are also provided, while components may be changed to suit the audience being addressed. Handout materials are available in quantity from the American Trauma Society. Additionally, the manual includes a reference section for presenters on related articles, as well as a resource section listing available handout materials from other sources that may be appropriate to supplement use of the program. Watch Your Step! is available from the ATS National Office for $225. ATS members receive a 10 percent discount. For more information on the Watch Your Step! Being Safe and Sensible at Home program, contact the ATS at 1-800-556-7890/301-574-4300, or via E-mail at info@amtrauma.org |
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