Safe At Home: Preventing Falls and Preserving Independence

AgeBetter helps make homes safer
Steps like these leading into a house often cause falls. Adding railings would greatly improve the safety. 

Falls are a leading cause of injury and death in Wisconsin; in 2022, emergency medical services responded to more than 130,000 falls across the state. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Wisconsin has the highest mortality rate after a fall among older adults. Falls also can rob people of their independence and self-confidence, undermining their ability to continue to live at home.

The good news: falls can be prevented. Which is what AgeBetter’s Safe at Home program is working to do.

Piloting a Program to Fill a Gap

In 2023, MCF awarded AgeBetter a grant from the William E. and Edna B. Walker Fund for the Elderly, a Field of Interest fund at MCF that was established in 1981 to support programs that enhance the lives of the elderly. The grant allowed AgeBetter to create a pilot program for Safe at Home.

“For years, SSM Health offered free home safety assessments for seniors,” Ann Albert, Executive Director at AgeBetter, said. “I really liked their model of partnering with volunteers to do assessments and following up to connect seniors with resources. When SSM Health closed their program in 2022, I wanted to be able to offer a similar solution to people in the community.”

Ann began to develop the Safe at Home program at AgeBetter and reached out to MCF to help fund it. “We were able to create and run a pilot program thanks to the grant from MCF,” Ann said.

Creating a Collaborative Project

In keeping with AgeBetter’s founding principles, the Safe at Home program is a collaboration with the community.

“For our pilot program, we partnered with Madison College occupational therapy students, who did 40 assessments,” Ann explained. “Our project coordinator then followed up with each person after the assessment to help them implement the recommendations and answer questions.”

The pilot program’s success, coupled with a reported increase in falls, led Dane County to contract with AgeBetter to provide home assessments to county residents. This has allowed them to expand their work.

Program coordinator Diane Turner has broadened the pool of volunteer assessors, adding students from UW-Madison and retired occupational therapists to the team. In the first six months of 2024, AgeBetter already has completed 40 home assessments.

Risks Often Are in Plain Sight

The majority of falls happen at home, which makes the home assessments extremely valuable in preventing injuries.

“Most people coming into our program self-select after learning about it at an event,” Diane explained, rather than being referred to the program. After seeing the post-assessment recommendations, people often express surprise at the risks that surround them.

“People often tell us, ‘I never thought about that’ or ‘I never noticed that before’ when we follow up with them after the assessment,” Diane said. Diane makes follow up calls with people a week or two after the initial visit to help explain the recommendations and connect them to resources. She reaches out again three months later, and again after six months.

She can connect people with a case manager or let them know about community resources to help them implement the recommendations, which often involve installing grab bars and stair railings, and helping secure rugs to the floor. Other tips include storing frequently used items in lower cabinets, keeping a flashlight by the bed and ensuring your phone is charged and by the bed at night.

If you are interested in learning more about the Safe at Home program, or would like to schedule an assessment, visit AgeBetterToday.org.

We would love to connect with you! Get our newsletters.