III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 276 

Designating September 22, 2009, as ‘‘National Falls Prevention Awareness 

Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009 

Mr. KOHL (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. ENZI, Mr. CASEY, Mr. SANDERS, 

and Mrs. MURRAY) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating September 22, 2009, as ‘‘National Falls 

Prevention Awareness Day’’. 

Whereas older adults age 65 and over are the fastest growing 

segment of our population and whose numbers will increase from 35,000,000 in 2000 to 55,000,000 in 2020; 

Whereas 1 in every 3 people in the United States who are 

65 years of age or older falls each year; 

Whereas falls are the leading cause of injury, deaths, and 

hospital admissions for traumatic injuries among adults 

65 years of age and older; 

Whereas, in 2007, approximately 1,900,000 people with fallrelated injuries were treated in hospital emergency departments and approximately 492,000 were hospitalized 

after treatment; 


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Whereas, in 2006, more 16,600 people aged 65 and older 

died from injuries related to unintentional falls; 

Whereas, in 2000, direct medical costs for fall-related injuries 

for adults aged 65 and older totaled more than 

$19,000,000,000; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that if the rate of increase in falls is not slowed, 

annual direct treatment costs under the Medicare program will reach $32,400,000,000 by 2020; 

Whereas evidence-based programs show promise in reducing 

falls and facilitating cost-effective interventions, such as 

comprehensive clinical assessments, exercise programs to 

improve balance and health, management of medications, 

correction of vision, and reduction of home hazards; 

Whereas research indicates that fall prevention programs for 

high-risk older adults have a net-cost savings of almost 

$9 in benefits to society for each $1 invested; 

Whereas the Safety of Seniors Act of 2007 (Public Law 110– 

202) was enacted to amend the Public Health Service 

Act (42 U.S.C. 280b et seq.) to create a national education campaign aimed at older adults, their families, and 

healthcare providers, and injury prevention programs 

that focus on the reduction and prevention of falls among 

older adults; and 

Whereas the Falls Free Coalition Advocacy Work Group and 

its numerous national and State supporting organizations 

should be commended for their efforts to raise awareness 

and to promote better understanding, research, and programs to prevent falls among older adults: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) designates September 22, 2009, as ‘‘Na2 tional Falls Prevention Awareness Day’’; 

3 (2) commends the Falls Free Coalition Advo4 cacy Work Group and the 22 State falls coalitions 

5 for their efforts to work together to increase edu6 cation and awareness about the prevention of falls 

7 among older adults; 

8 (3) encourages businesses, individuals, Federal, 

9 State, and local governments, the public health com10 munity, and health care providers to work together 

11 to promote the awareness of falls in an effort to re12 duce the incidence of falls among older people in the 

13 United States; 

14 (4) urges the Centers for Disease Control and 

15 Prevention to continue developing and evaluating 

16 interventions to prevent falls among older adults 

17 that can be used in effective community-based fall 

18 prevention programs; 

19 (5) encourages State health departments to use 

20 their significant leadership to reduce injuries and in21 jury-related health care costs by collaborating with 

22 colleagues and a variety of organizations and indi23 viduals to reduce falls among older adults; and 

24 (6) recognizes proven, cost effective fall preven25 tion programs and policies and encourages experts 


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1 in the field of fall prevention to share their best 

2 practices so that their success can be replicated by 

3 others. 

Æ 


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