Northern Virginia Fall Prevention Coalition Latest News

Tony Schaffer Meets with VA Tech Locomotion Dept

Joyce Cimbalista — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:29:38 GMT

Tony took a trip to VA Tech recently to meet with the head of the locomotion research department (Ph.D Thurmon Lockhart) where they are studying the relationship between gait, mobility and falls in older adults. The VA Tech grad students are now working with the NVFPC for community based fall risk assessments here in Loudoun.
See photos of Tony participating in a gait study.

NVFPC Exciting Collaboration Announcements

Joyce Cimbalista — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:10:15 GMT

Loudoun Inova Hospital & VA Tech Locomotion Research Laboratory

Leesburg, VA - - - July 31, 2011- - -Registration now open! (Register now) You will want to attend our 3^rd Annual Fall Prevention Summit, September 23^rd at the Fair Oaks Hyatt Hotel in Fairfax Virginia. Collaborating with us this year will be, Loudoun Inova Hospital and the Grado Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. We will be presenting a model for a community based fall prevention plan. This model was developed by the members of the NVFPC and can be readily replicated by other communities across the country.

Loudoun Inova is a making a significant step forward to reduce the number of falls experienced by our elders. Inova Loudoun hospital is developing a data collection process to monitor these important elements:

Emergency room fall incidents data, taken from that patient visit
Evaluation of individuals who are at risk for fall with their fall history; and, follow up programs for those individuals.

An additional milestone development is the collaboration between the NVFPC and the Locomotion Research Laboratory. Dr. Thurman Lockhart, Director of the Locomotion Research Laboratory, Virginia Tech, is a leading researcher of elder fall prevention. Dr. Lockhart initiated discussions with the NVFPC in developing a center for fall prevention. Our member’s community fall risk assessment program will provide Dr. Lockhart and his team of researchers an ideal environment to refine fall risk assessment technology.

Both of these collaborations of private business, non-profit organizations, and academia, is a model that can be replicated in other communities, a great example of communities providing services without relying on government funding.

Join us for breakfast and hear how you can introduce this program into your community!

Visit Event page to find out more and to Register.

2nd Annual ‘Summit’ Held October 14, 2010

Tony Schaffer — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:36:26 GMT

The 2nd Annual Summit, hosted by Inova Loudoun Hospital, resulted in other local area hospitals joining our efforts for public awareness and fall prevention education. Over 125 participated, including many of our member vendors.

(View photo album from this event)

The seminar offered a series of informational sessions for Healthcare Professionals. Topics included discharge planning for high risk patients, Improving functional outcomes and proven fall prevention programs.

We hosted these keynote speakers:

Dr. John Cook, Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Critical Care, and Geriatrics
Nancy Dezan, Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Family Day Center
Judy Wiegert, Case Manager from the Brain Injury Services

Essential information from Dr. Cook’s presentation included how the body changes in feeling perception as we age, wearing eyeglasses propels individuals to look down more causing bad posture; and, the use of straight canes (rather than curved) gives support without having to bend at the waist. Straighter walking postures avert uneven body weight distribution that leads to falls.

Nancy Dezan relayed issues and key strategies for fall prevention in her presentation of the ‘Mind & Body Connection of Dementia’. Those with dementia have a loss of coordination, disorientation to rooms they have lived in for years, an inability to follow written instructions, occasional night wandering; and often do not correctly use assistive devices. Successful intervention must address the specific causes of falls and be multi-disciplinary. The responsibility for fall prevention lies with staff or the caregiver as the person with dementia cannot change. Major strategies to help prevent falls in this group include, managing hypertension, encourage physical activity, remove environmental hazards, avoid over-stimulation in family gatherings; and use nights lights and reflective tape in darker traffic areas.

A brief introduction from Tony Schaffer, Founder of the NVFPC was, “We have seen numerous lives turned upside down by a devastating fall. Fall prevention education is not a glamorous cause and often overlooked by the health care establishment. I know that many people are interested in this message; and, I know that people have implemented lifestyle changes based on the information presented to them by our coalition. The cost for education is minimal. The cost of a fall is huge in financial outlay and mental anguish.”

A first time event for the NVFPC was the donation presented to the Area Agency on Aging for $1,000 -- our acknowledgement of their support for us and a reciprocal gesture to the community. Also, the first community forum discussion was held on falls affecting our communities. There are now plans to meet in the spring with other community groups across the state.

About Dr. John Cook
Dr. Cook’s credentials include a B.S. from the US Naval Academy, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School, and his Doctorate Degree from Yale University. Dr. Cook’s residency was completed at the University of Virginia in 1980. He was the Director of ICU at Inova Loudoun Hospital from 1980-1997 and is currently a part of Loudoun Internal Medicine and the MDVIP group.

About Nancy Dezan
Nancy Dezan is a social worker with 30 years experience assisting families and individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease. She has served as Executive Director of three different dementia-specific day health programs, and created a nationally recognized social program for those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She speaks about a variety of topics related to Dementia and aging, both locally and across the United States. Currently, Nancy is Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Family Day Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

About Judy Wiegert
Judy Wiegert is an Adult Case Manager with Brain Injury Services Inc. She completed her Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at the George Washington University and has 10 years of experience working with families that are dealing with mental health, chronic illness, or disability at both the direct care and the policy level in the U.S. and in Africa.

Agenda (Download and print the Agenda)

8:30 – 9:00	Vendor registration and setup
9:00 – 9:55	Doors open to public
10:00 – 10:15	Summit opening - Steve Gurney
10:15 – 10:35	Message from the Chairman - Tony Schaffer
10:35 – 10:55	Loudoun Fire and Rescue - Jason Goodman
10:55 – 11:25	Dr. John H. Cook III, Loudoun Medical Group
11:25 – 11:45	Special Guest Senator Mark Herring
11:45 – 12:30	Lunch
12:30 - 1:00	Nancy Dezan, Executive Director Alzheimer’s Adult Day Care
1:00 - 1:30	Fall risk assessment interactive session presented by Inova Physical Therapy, State of the Art Physical Therapy
1:30 - 2:00	Judy Weigert, Brain Injury Services of Virginia
2:00 – 2:15	closing remarks

Special Events

2:30 – 3:15	Open forum discussion on how we as a community can prevent falls in our community
3:15 – 4:30	Fall Prevention Seminar covering CDC’s “Preventing Falls” program.

Raising Public Awareness through the ‘Summit’ Conference held 10/10/2009

Tony Schaffer — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:39:30 GMT

Leesburg, VA - - - October 14, 2009 - - - The Northern VA Fall Prevention Coalition (NVFPC) held a public seminar, titled the ‘Summit’ at Ida Lee Park on Saturday, October 10, 2009. In line with their mission to conduct community seminars raising the awareness of fall risks, the coalition held a half day seminar at one of the state’s historic park conference centers. The center was ideally suited for this type of interactive participation in that it provided separate speakers’ platforms, as well as exhibition space for vendors with life improving technologies.

(View photo album from this event)

The keynote speakers were Leonard Recupero, from the Community Injury Group for the Division of Injury and Violence Prevention; and, Lynn Beattie, from the National Council on Aging. Their presentations included a snapshot of fall related injuries among older adults and strategies on how to reduce falls in the state. Combining these two keynotes with presentations from Battalion Chief Tim Menzenwerth of the Loudoun Fire & Rescue, the Leesburg Pharmacy, the State of Art Physical Therapy, the Low Vision Specialists, and Schaffer Construction, the attendees gained an understanding of the physical and emotional toll that falls can have on seniors and their care giver families. All of the professional speakers emphasized that often ordinary living conditions, lack of physical strength, and vision impairment can collectively cause anyone to trip and suffer a major lasting condition. Sections of the seminar indicated that women experience 2.6 times more critical broken bones than men.

The CDC identified the tremendous need for community based fall prevention education. The Senate also acknowledged this need by passing the Safety for Seniors Act of 2007. This act supports fall prevention education at the community level. NVFPC is proud to implement this program into the communities of Northern VA.

"Our programs supplement this original program developed by the CDC, providing interactive sessions presented by leading service providers in the healthcare and aging industry”, said Becky Schaffer, owner of Schaffer Construction - Designs for Life.