Elva Godwin was playing pingpong in the senior center when she fell and broke her shoulder. Not long after that, she tripped on a step in a dimly lit room at a friend's house and broke the other one. The octogenarian is just the type of person who would benefit most from a program developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to eliminate falls and fire injuries among people aged 65 and older, while making their surroundings safer.
Many older adults are at risk.
They are frailer. Watts said community volunteers who teach the program will work through senior centers and other organizations to spread their safety message and also instruct some seniors in their homes. The program, developed by the CDC and the National Fire Protection Association, will provide some participants with smoke alarms, grab bars or nonskid bath mats. Godwin, who lives alone, has bars in her bathrooms to keep herself balanced. She says she is limited by how much she can walk, although she tries to walk a little every day for exercise.