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Walkability Audits Kickoff California’s First Fall Prevention Awareness Week

Culver City residents joined gerontology students from USC and Cal State Fullerton and staff from the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence to survey the neighborhood for hazards.

By Caroline Cicero

Local Culver City residents of all ages joined gerontology students from USC and Cal State Fullerton and staff from the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence (FPCE) to survey the neighborhoods surrounding El Marino Language School, Farragut and Linwood E. Howe Elementary Schools.   Participants, dubbed “Sidewalk Sleuths,” looked for

Jon Pynoos, UPS Foundation Professor of Gerontology and co-director of the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence, talks with a Culver City Wave reporter at the Fall Prevention Awareness Week celebration in Culver City

sidewalk cracks, upheaved pavement, holes,and other potential hazards, and they assessed the neighborhoods for overall pedestrian friendliness.  FPCE organized the walkability audits in order to promote awareness about the growing public health problem of falls, in tune with California’s first official Fall Prevention Awareness Week.  One in three older people fall each year. 

On August 11, 2008, the California Legislature approved State Concurrent Resolution 77 (SCR 77) instituting Fall Prevention Awareness Week (FPAW) as the first week of autumn each year.  FPAW calls for more attention to fall prevention efforts within local governments planning activities as well as in the state’s aging programs.  At its September 23 formal meeting, Beverly Hills City Council will issue a FPAW proclamation.  Through the StopFalls Network, many cities and counties around the state are planning concurrent events to highlight the need for increased attention to falls.       

A young Sidewalk Sleuth checked for fall prevention hazards of Culver City's streets and sidewalks.

FPAW is authored by State Senator Alan Lowenthal (co-author Patty Berg) and supported by the California Commission on Aging.   The establishment of FPAW was recommended at the December, 2007 Fall

Prevention Summit held in Long Beach, which was organized by FPCE and funded by the Archstone Foundation.  FPCE is a partnership between USC’s Andrus Gerontology Center, the Center for Successful Aging at Cal State Fullerton, the UCLA School of Medicine, the VA Los Angeles Health Care System, and the California Department of Public Health, State and Local Injury Control Section.  For more information, please check out www.stopfalls.org.

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