SHALOM APARTMENTS FALL PREVENTION PROGRAM:
Developing a Best Practice Fall Prevention Program for Senior Housing

Shalom I and Shalom II Apartments (Shalom) are adjacent HUD-funded senior housing developments located in Warwick, Rhode Island. Shalom was sponsored and is managed by Jewish Seniors Agency of Rhode Island. Shalom has a total of 153 subsidized apartments whose resident range in age from 62 to 94 years.

With grant funds from the Administration on Aging, Shalom is developing a model Falls Prevention Program to improve the health status of its senior residents by reducing the incidence of falls and resulting disabilities. The model is intended as a prototype for replication in all of the state’s 204 senior housing developments and other venues providing support services to seniors such as adult day programs and assisted living residences. The state Long Term Care Coordinating Council will assist in disseminating the model as a best practice to a broader statewide and national arena.

Impetus for the Shalom project came as a result of the Executive Director’s membership on the Long Term Care Coordinating Council and her participation in the Council’s Task Force on Fall Prevention. This Taskforce was established because falls among the elderly are extremely common and are associated with increases in morbidity, mortality, reduced functioning and quality of life, premature nursing home admissions and costs to the state’s long term care system.

In partnership with the University of Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center, the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy Outreach Program, and the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing, Shalom’s Fall Prevention program will include:

• Environmental assessment of tenant apartments and reduction of identified risks,

• Comprehensive prescription drug review to assess potential drug interactions and adverse reactions,

• An exercise program including Tai Chi, training on exercise programs and use of exercise equipment to strengthen participant gait and balance,

• Development of consumer educational tools for fall prevention, and

• An evaluation component using actual changes in living environment, tenant participation in the medication review and exercise programs as indicators of success.