Putnam Awarded Federal Grant to Help Prevent Senior Falls

July 27, 2021 Examiner Media Putnam County’s Office for Senior Resources

Putnam County has been awarded a three-year, $273,000 federal grant to promote fall prevention programs for seniors.

The Putnam County’s Office for Senior Resources (OSR) is just one of 11 organizations nationwide to receive the highly competitive 2021 Empowering Communities to Reduce Falls and Falls Risk grant.

“We all know how devastating falls can be to senior citizens,” Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell said. “This generous grant will help fund programs that will improve the quality of life for our seniors and those with disabilities. It may even save some lives, as our more and more seniors learn vital strategies to prevent them from taking serious falls.”

The overall purposes of the grant are to develop a result-based, comprehensive strategy for reducing falls and falls risk among older adults and adults with disabilities living in the community; and significantly increase the number of older adults and adults with disabilities who participate in evidence-based falls prevention programs, while concurrently pursuing the sustainability of these programs beyond the end of the grant period.

OSR and its partners plan to Engage more than 1,000 participants in evidence-based fall prevention programs in five counties of the Lower Hudson Valley through both in-person and virtual classes; develop partnerships with area hospital systems and insurance companies to improve care coordination; and build revenue capacity for sustaining funding needed for these programs beyond the grant period.

Michael Cunningham, the Director of OSR, stated that OSR and its staff are proud to be the lead agency in a five-county partnership with its neighboring Offices for the Aging in Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Ulster. He noted the regional collaboration was an instrumental factor that contributed to OSR being awarded the grant.