S. 845

One Hundred Tenth Congress

of the

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eight 

An Act 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand and intensify 

programs with respect to research and related activities concerning elder falls.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safety of Seniors Act of 2007’’. 

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT. 

Part J of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

280b et seq.) is amended—

(1) by redesignating section 393B (as added by section 

1401 of Public Law 106–386) as section 393C and transferring 

such section so that it appears after section 393B (as added 

by section 1301 of Public Law 106–310); and 

(2) by inserting after section 393C (as redesignated by 

paragraph (1)) the following: 

‘‘SEC. 393D. PREVENTION OF FALLS AMONG OLDER ADULTS. 

‘‘(a) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The Secretary may—

‘‘(1) oversee and support a national education campaign 

to be carried out by a nonprofit organization with experience 

in designing and implementing national injury prevention programs, that is directed principally to older adults, their families, 

and health care providers, and that focuses on reducing falls 

among older adults and preventing repeat falls; and 

‘‘(2) award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 

to qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of qualified 

organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating 

expertise, in falls or fall prevention, for the purpose of organizing State-level coalitions of appropriate State and local agencies, safety, health, senior citizen, and other organizations to 

design and carry out local education campaigns, focusing on 

reducing falls among older adults and preventing repeat falls. 

‘‘(b) RESEARCH.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may—

‘‘(A) conduct and support research to—

‘‘(i) improve the identification of older adults who 

have a high risk of falling; 

‘‘(ii) improve data collection and analysis to identify fall risk and protective factors; 

‘‘(iii) design, implement, and evaluate the most 

effective fall prevention interventions; 
S. 845—2

‘‘(iv) improve strategies that are proven to be effective in reducing falls by tailoring these strategies to 

specific populations of older adults; 

‘‘(v) conduct research in order to maximize the 

dissemination of proven, effective fall prevention interventions; 

‘‘(vi) intensify proven interventions to prevent falls 

among older adults; 

‘‘(vii) improve the diagnosis, treatment, and 

rehabilitation of elderly fall victims and older adults 

at high risk for falls; and 

‘‘(viii) assess the risk of falls occurring in various 

settings; 

‘‘(B) conduct research concerning barriers to the adoption of proven interventions with respect to the prevention 

of falls among older adults; 

‘‘(C) conduct research to develop, implement, and 

evaluate the most effective approaches to reducing falls 

among high-risk older adults living in communities and 

long-term care and assisted living facilities; and 

‘‘(D) evaluate the effectiveness of community programs 

designed to prevent falls among older adults. 

‘‘(2) EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT.—The Secretary, either directly 

or through awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of 

qualified organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall prevention, may provide 

professional education for physicians and allied health professionals, and aging service providers in fall prevention, evaluation, and management. 

‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—The Secretary may carry out 

the following: 

‘‘(1) Oversee and support demonstration and research 

projects to be carried out by qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of qualified organizations and institutions, 

specializing, or demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall prevention, in the following areas: 

‘‘(A) A multistate demonstration project assessing the 

utility of targeted fall risk screening and referral programs. 

‘‘(B) Programs designed for community-dwelling older 

adults that utilize multicomponent fall intervention 

approaches, including physical activity, medication assessment and reduction when possible, vision enhancement, 

and home modification strategies. 

‘‘(C) Programs that are targeted to new fall victims 

who are at a high risk for second falls and which are 

designed to maximize independence and quality of life for 

older adults, particularly those older adults with functional 

limitations. 

‘‘(D) Private sector and public-private partnerships to 

develop technologies to prevent falls among older adults 

and prevent or reduce injuries if falls occur. 

‘‘(2)(A) Award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 

to qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of qualified 

organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating 

expertise, in falls or fall prevention, to design, implement, 
S. 845—3

and evaluate fall prevention programs using proven intervention strategies in residential and institutional settings. 

‘‘(B) Award 1 or more grants, contracts, or cooperative 

agreements to 1 or more qualified organizations, institutions, 

or consortia of qualified organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall prevention, 

in order to carry out a multistate demonstration project to 

implement and evaluate fall prevention programs using proven 

intervention strategies designed for single and multifamily residential settings with high concentrations of older adults, 

including—

‘‘(i) identifying high-risk populations; 

‘‘(ii) evaluating residential facilities; 

‘‘(iii) conducting screening to identify high-risk individuals; 

‘‘(iv) providing fall assessment and risk reduction interventions and counseling; 

‘‘(v) coordinating services with health care and social 

service providers; and 

‘‘(vi) coordinating post-fall treatment and rehabilitation. 

‘‘(3) Award 1 or more grants, contracts, or cooperative 

agreements to qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia 

of qualified organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall prevention, to conduct 

evaluations of the effectiveness of the demonstration projects 

described in this subsection. 

‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative 

agreements under this section, the Secretary may give priority 

to entities that explore the use of cost-sharing with respect to 

activities funded under the grant, contract, or agreement to ensure 

the institutional commitment of the recipients of such assistance 

to the projects funded under the grant, contract, or agreement. 

Such non-Federal cost sharing contributions may be provided 

directly or through donations from public or private entities and 

may be in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment, or services. 

‘‘(e) STUDY OF EFFECTS OF FALLS ON HEALTH CARE COSTS.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct a review 

of the effects of falls on health care costs, the potential for 

reducing falls, and the most effective strategies for reducing 

health care costs associated with falls. 

‘‘(2) REPORT.—If the Secretary conducts the review under 

paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, not later than 36 months 

after the date of enactment of the Safety of Seniors Act of 
S. 845—4

2007, submit to Congress a report describing the findings of 

the Secretary in conducting such review.’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.