Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act

As we celebrate Older Americans Month throughout the month of May, the Home Safety Council would like to express our support for the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act and for the critical services being provided by the Administration on Aging.

The Home Safety Council is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating Americans on the importance of adopting better home safety practices to prevent injuries and save lives. According to our State of Home Safety in America TM study, conducted by the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center, falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death occurring in the home, and the vast majority of fall deaths occur among people age 65 and older.

For over a decade, our organization's sole purpose has been to educate and empower Americans in making their homes a safer place to live. We work with national safety experts to help reduce thousands of preventable deaths and last Congress we strongly supported the Keeping Seniors Safe from Falls Act of 2004. We also launched Safe Steps, an awareness building initiative for older Americans which encourages families to identify and correct potential falls hazards in and around the home.

In addition, we have collaborated with The National Council on the Aging and The Archstone Foundation in an initiative entitled Falls Free: Promoting a National Falls Prevention Plan. Released March 9, the National Action Plan is a one of a kind monograph that addresses the challenges and barriers related to a national falls prevention initiative and outlines key strategies and action steps to help reduce falling dangers for older adults.

We hope you will consider us a resource for home safety issues important to older Americans. If we can ever be of assistance, please contact Patricia H. Adkins at 202-349-1100 or Rob Six at 703-741-7535.