AAAPP Receives National Award for Collaborative Fall Prevention Work

​Area Agency on Aging of Pasco Pinellas Receives Award from the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) for Fall Prevention Work

N4A HONORED AAAPP WITH AN AGING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN NEW ORLEANS IN JULY 2019.

St. Petersburg, FL – The Area Agency on Aging of Pasco – Pinellas (AAAPP) announces that its Better Living for Seniors Pinellas Falls Prevention Coalition has been honored with a 2019 Aging Achievement Award by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). The awards program is supported by WellCare Health Plans. AAAPP was among 48 local aging programs to receive honors at the n4a Annual Conference & Tradeshow, July 27-31, New Orleans.

The 2019 n4a Aging Innovations and Achievement Awards recognizes Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and Title VI Native American aging programs that develop and implement cutting-edge approaches to support older adults, people with disabilities and their family caregivers. Among the selection criteria was the ease with which other agencies could replicate the program in their communities.

Better Living for Seniors Pinellas, an initiative of the AAAPP that works to engage local aging business partners, drives community-wide work to reduce the prevalence of falls through a Fall Prevention Coalition. Coalition initiatives include Denying Gravity, an innovative fall prevention comedy play put on by SAGES, a local volunteer senior acting troupe and local fire departments; a series of quarterly community provider symposiums; and a pilot program at two assisted living facilities to reduce unnecessary calls to EMS for falls assistance. Through these activities, Denying Gravity has reached more than 1,700 local older adults, and the two assisted living facilities involved in the EMS pilot program saw a 12% overall reduction in 911 calls in 2018. Additionally, a documentary called Saving Claire will premiere locally in September, before being released nationally on PBS.

“AAAPP is so fortunate to have a host of community partners so committed to ensuring optimal quality of life for older adults in Pinellas & Pasco,” said Ann Marie Winter, AAAPP Executive Director. “Falls are strongly associated with negative health outcomes for older adults, so the collaborative efforts to address falls risk is extremely important in keeping our community safe and healthy.”

To read the full press release, click here.