Falls Prevention Classes Offer Mature Residents a Greater Chance to Stay Independent for Life

LongIsland.com

Commissioner of Health Services, Dr. James Tomarken invites mature residents to attend the county’s national award-winning program focused on falls prevention.

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Program has proven to reduce the number of falls for participants by 31 percent.

Photo by: MYLITV, via YouTube.

Suffolk County, NY - March 2, 2017 - Commissioner of Health Services, Dr. James Tomarken invites mature residents to attend the county’s national award-winning program focused on falls prevention. The program is intended to empower mature adults to carry out behaviors that reduce the risks of falls and improve their quality of life.

These programs are ‘Stepping On’, a CDC model program, comprises a seven-week course that focuses on balance and strength, home and community safety, vision, safe footwear and medication review. The program has proven to reduce the number of falls for participants by 31 percent. A second option entitled “Staying Independent for Life” covers much of the information that is provided in the ‘Stepping On’ program in a condensed two-hour session.

Between 2011 and 2016 these programs collectively reached over 11,406 senior citizens to teach them about how to prevent falls in the home and live independently.

The program will be offered as follows:

‘Stepping On’

Kings Park
Workshop dates and times:
Tuesday, March  14, 21, 28;  April 4, 11, 18, 25,  2017, 10:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Martin Luther Terrace Apartments
116  Wartburg Court
Kings Park, NY 11754
To register call 631-853-7214

Wyandanch
Workshop dates and times:
Wednesday,  March 15, 22, 29; April 5, 12, 19, 26, 2016, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Wyandanch Senior Center
28 Wyandanch Ave.
Wyandanch, NY 11798
To register call  631-491-4889

West Islip
Workshop dates and times:
Thursday, March 16 23, 30, April 6,13,20, 27,  2017 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
West Islip Public Library

3 Higbie Lane
West Islip, NY 11795
To register call 631-661-7080

Southampton
Workshop dates and times:
Friday, March  24, 31, April 7,14,21, 28, May 5,  2017 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Stony Brook Southampton Campus

39 Tuckahoe Rd.
Southampton, NY 11968
To register call 631-444-8385

Staying Independent for Life

Amityville
Friday ,March 31, 2017,  from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Amityville Public Library
Corner Oak and John Street
Amityville, NY 11701
To register call  631-264-0567


Additional programs will be rolled out in communities throughout Suffolk County over the course of the year. For more information about Suffolk County Falls Prevention Programs, call the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-853-6492 or visit: here

Watch this video to learn more about what your peers are doing at Suffolk County’s falls-prevention programs: here