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Watch Your Step -
Being Safe and Sensible at Home
What is the Watch Your Step program?
The Watch Your Step
program addresses trauma in the elderly and focuses on fall prevention
in and around the home. The program consists of a brochure, plus a
program manual, handouts and PowerPoint presentation on a CD. The
PowerPoint presentation takes the audience through a house room-by-room,
showing them steps and guidelines to keep each room safe and pointing out
possible dangers to avoid. The manual contains the accompanying
PowerPoint presentation notes for discussion, along with a listing of all
Pennsylvania Area Agencies on Aging. The handouts, including a pre/post
presentation survey, can be found at the end of the manual.
Why is the Watch Your Step program needed?
Trauma in the elderly is
the sixth leading cause of death in persons 65 years and older, most of
these fatal injuries are related to falls. About 25 percent of persons
ages 65 to 74 fall each year. After the age of 75, the rate increases to
33 percent. Almost half of older persons who are hospitalized due to a
fall are discharged to a nursing home. Due to high health care costs and
significant impact on the elderly, as well as the preventability of falls,
the U.S. Public Health Service has identified the reduction of falls in
older adults as a national public health objective. Pennsylvania has one
of the largest elderly population percentages in the nation and therefore
needs to pay closer attention to all trauma in the elderly.
What do older adults learn from the Watch Your Step program?
Older adults will learn
how to keep themselves and their families safe from falls and other trauma
in and around the house. Topics include fire safety, water safety,
electrical safety and safe storage of chemicals. They will also learn
about the importance of getting routine physician check-ups and staying
physically fit throughout retirement.
Contact:
To learn more about the
Watch Your Step program, contact ATSPA at (717) 766-1616,
1 (800) 822-2358 or
atspa@atspa.org.
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Watch Your
Step is a brochure explaining the
trauma prevention program for older persons to help them stay safer both
in and outside the home.
