Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC , USA.
Falls Free® Initiative, National Council on Aging , Washington, DC , USA.
Front Public Health. 2015 Apr 27;2:194. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00194. eCollection 2014.
Falls are the leading cause of older adult injuries and injury-related deaths. Until 2004, the growing public health issue of older adult falls received little national attention. To elevate and focus on the issue, the National Council on Aging launched the Falls Free(®) Initiative, a group of national and state agencies working collaboratively to address older adult falls with evidence-based solutions. Since then, attention to older adult falls has gained significant momentum.
To describe the steps taken to create the momentum around fall prevention and lessons learned that could be applied to supporting other older adult health-related issues.
METHOD/OBJECTIVES: The Falls Free(®) Initiative took key steps to promote the older adult falls prevention movement, including initiating organized advocacy and supporting the development of state coalitions through increasing awareness of the issue, promoting evidence-based programs, instituting evaluation, implementing systems change, and providing tailored technical assistance.
Through the support of the Falls Free(®) Initiative and many partners, advocacy efforts have increased federal funding for fall prevention, the majority of states have fall prevention coalitions, and thousands of stakeholders are now engaged in fall prevention. Select lessons learned include leveraging compelling data, choosing passionate leaders for the movement, aligning the cause with partner missions, and being inclusive of all stakeholders.
Although much progress has been made in the fall prevention movement, the issue is growing along with the aging population. Efforts must continue to gain support from all affected stakeholders to reduce older adult falls and fall-related injuries.
跌倒已成为导致老年人受伤和与受伤相关死亡的主要原因。直到 2004 年，老年人跌倒这一日益严重的公共卫生问题才引起了国家的关注。为了提高对这一问题的重视并集中解决这一问题，美国国家老龄问题研究所发起了“无跌倒（®）倡议”，该倡议由国家和州一级的多个机构组成，旨在共同协作，采用循证解决方案解决老年人跌倒问题。自那时以来，对老年人跌倒问题的关注已经有了显著的提升。
描述在预防跌倒方面所采取的措施，以及可以应用于支持其他老年人健康相关问题的经验教训。
方法/目的：“无跌倒（®）倡议”采取了关键步骤来推动老年人跌倒预防运动，包括通过提高对这一问题的认识、推广循证项目、实施评估、进行系统变革以及提供定制的技术援助来启动有组织的宣传活动，并支持州级联盟的发展。
通过“无跌倒（®）倡议”和许多合作伙伴的支持，倡导工作增加了联邦政府对预防跌倒的资金投入，大多数州都成立了预防跌倒联盟，现在有成千上万的利益相关者参与到预防跌倒工作中。一些经验教训包括利用有说服力的数据、为运动选择充满激情的领导者、使运动目标与合作伙伴的使命保持一致以及包容所有利益相关者。
尽管在预防跌倒运动方面已经取得了很大的进展，但随着人口老龄化，这一问题也在不断发展。必须继续努力，从所有受影响的利益相关者那里获得支持，以减少老年人跌倒和与跌倒相关的伤害。
