The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence kicked off the California Fall Prevention Summit Dec. 5 at the Hilton Long Beach by hosting a walk to raise awareness of the issue.

The center, housed at the USC Andrus Gerontology Center, is a public-private partnership made up of representatives from USC, California State University, Fullerton, UCLA, the V.A. Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and the California Department of Public Health.

The three-kilometer route extended throughout downtown Long Beach and along the harbor before winding back to the hotel. Fall prevention fitness experts, led by Debra Rose, a professor in the department of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton and co-director of the center, demonstrated warm-up stretches, advanced fitness exercises and proper use of accessories such as walking poles and pedometers.

“The goal was to demonstrate the value of walking as a simple fall prevention activity,” Rose said. “It is well known that regular engagement in physical activity is key to maintaining muscle strength, balance, flexibility and cardiovascular health; walking represents an easy and fun way to achieve that goal.”

About 30 of the more than 150 summit attendees participated in the Walk Tall Prevent Falls event.

These individuals hold leadership positions in fields as diverse as social services, housing, city government, health, emergency services, exercise physiology and urban planning. Their purpose at the two-day convention was to use their expertise to craft policy recommendations and strategies that will accelerate fall prevention initiatives throughout California.

Looking refreshed after the walk, Phoebe Liebig, professor emeritus of gerontology and public administration at USC and now serving in an administrative role with the center, looked forward to the policy proposals that would come about as a result of the convention.

“Policy begins at home and on the community level,” she said. “The state (of California) doesn’t have a lot of money right now for such programs, so we’ll need to come up with creative ways to get people involved with fall prevention efforts.”

Jon Pynoos, holder of the UPS Foundation Chair in Gerontology, Policy, Planning and Development, welcomed the group of distinguished guests to the convention.

“Today we’re here to regroup and think about the next steps to setting up a fall prevention infrastructure,” he said. “This summit will help to develop recommendations, establish a network, meet new people and identify what we can do in our own lives to prevent falls for older adults.”

Other notable speakers included Sen. Al Lowenthal, a supporter of fall prevention efforts in California, Ileana Areas, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Center for Disease Prevention, and Lynn Daucher, director of the California Department of Aging.