[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 845 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.845

                       One Hundred Tenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and eight


                                 An Act


 
   To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand and 
   intensify programs with respect to research and related activities 
                         concerning elder falls.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Safety of Seniors Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.
    Part J of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
280b et seq.) is amended--
        (1) by redesignating section 393B (as added by section 1401 of 
    Public Law 106-386) as section 393C and transferring such section 
    so that it appears after section 393B (as added by section 1301 of 
    Public Law 106-310); and
        (2) by inserting after section 393C (as redesignated by 
    paragraph (1)) the following:
``SEC. 393D. PREVENTION OF FALLS AMONG OLDER ADULTS.
    ``(a) Public Education.--The Secretary may--
        ``(1) oversee and support a national education campaign to be 
    carried out by a nonprofit organization with experience in 
    designing and implementing national injury prevention programs, 
    that is directed principally to older adults, their families, and 
    health care providers, and that focuses on reducing falls among 
    older adults and preventing repeat falls; and
        ``(2) award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to 
    qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of qualified 
    organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating 
    expertise, in falls or fall prevention, for the purpose of 
    organizing State-level coalitions of appropriate State and local 
    agencies, safety, health, senior citizen, and other organizations 
    to design and carry out local education campaigns, focusing on 
    reducing falls among older adults and preventing repeat falls.
    ``(b) Research.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may--
            ``(A) conduct and support research to--
                ``(i) improve the identification of older adults who 
            have a high risk of falling;
                ``(ii) improve data collection and analysis to identify 
            fall risk and protective factors;
                ``(iii) design, implement, and evaluate the most 
            effective fall prevention interventions;
                ``(iv) improve strategies that are proven to be 
            effective in reducing falls by tailoring these strategies 
            to specific populations of older adults;
                ``(v) conduct research in order to maximize the 
            dissemination of proven, effective fall prevention 
            interventions;
                ``(vi) intensify proven interventions to prevent falls 
            among older adults;
                ``(vii) improve the diagnosis, treatment, and 
            rehabilitation of elderly fall victims and older adults at 
            high risk for falls; and
                ``(viii) assess the risk of falls occurring in various 
            settings;
            ``(B) conduct research concerning barriers to the adoption 
        of proven interventions with respect to the prevention of falls 
        among older adults;
            ``(C) conduct research to develop, implement, and evaluate 
        the most effective approaches to reducing falls among high-risk 
        older adults living in communities and long-term care and 
        assisted living facilities; and
            ``(D) evaluate the effectiveness of community programs 
        designed to prevent falls among older adults.
        ``(2) Educational support.--The Secretary, either directly or 
    through awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to 
    qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of qualified 
    organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating 
    expertise, in falls or fall prevention, may provide professional 
    education for physicians and allied health professionals, and aging 
    service providers in fall prevention, evaluation, and management.
    ``(c) Demonstration Projects.--The Secretary may carry out the 
following:
        ``(1) Oversee and support demonstration and research projects 
    to be carried out by qualified organizations, institutions, or 
    consortia of qualified organizations and institutions, 
    specializing, or demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall 
    prevention, in the following areas:
            ``(A) A multistate demonstration project assessing the 
        utility of targeted fall risk screening and referral programs.
            ``(B) Programs designed for community-dwelling older adults 
        that utilize multicomponent fall intervention approaches, 
        including physical activity, medication assessment and 
        reduction when possible, vision enhancement, and home 
        modification strategies.
            ``(C) Programs that are targeted to new fall victims who 
        are at a high risk for second falls and which are designed to 
        maximize independence and quality of life for older adults, 
        particularly those older adults with functional limitations.
            ``(D) Private sector and public-private partnerships to 
        develop technologies to prevent falls among older adults and 
        prevent or reduce injuries if falls occur.
        ``(2)(A) Award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to 
    qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia of qualified 
    organizations and institutions, specializing, or demonstrating 
    expertise, in falls or fall prevention, to design, implement, and 
    evaluate fall prevention programs using proven intervention 
    strategies in residential and institutional settings.
        ``(B) Award 1 or more grants, contracts, or cooperative 
    agreements to 1 or more qualified organizations, institutions, or 
    consortia of qualified organizations and institutions, 
    specializing, or demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall 
    prevention, in order to carry out a multistate demonstration 
    project to implement and evaluate fall prevention programs using 
    proven intervention strategies designed for single and multifamily 
    residential settings with high concentrations of older adults, 
    including--
            ``(i) identifying high-risk populations;
            ``(ii) evaluating residential facilities;
            ``(iii) conducting screening to identify high-risk 
        individuals;
            ``(iv) providing fall assessment and risk reduction 
        interventions and counseling;
            ``(v) coordinating services with health care and social 
        service providers; and
            ``(vi) coordinating post-fall treatment and rehabilitation.
        ``(3) Award 1 or more grants, contracts, or cooperative 
    agreements to qualified organizations, institutions, or consortia 
    of qualified organizations and institutions, specializing, or 
    demonstrating expertise, in falls or fall prevention, to conduct 
    evaluations of the effectiveness of the demonstration projects 
    described in this subsection.
    ``(d) Priority.--In awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative 
agreements under this section, the Secretary may give priority to 
entities that explore the use of cost-sharing with respect to 
activities funded under the grant, contract, or agreement to ensure the 
institutional commitment of the recipients of such assistance to the 
projects funded under the grant, contract, or agreement. Such non-
Federal cost sharing contributions may be provided directly or through 
donations from public or private entities and may be in cash or in-
kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment, or services.
    ``(e) Study of Effects of Falls on Health Care Costs.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may conduct a review of the 
    effects of falls on health care costs, the potential for reducing 
    falls, and the most effective strategies for reducing health care 
    costs associated with falls.
        ``(2) Report.--If the Secretary conducts the review under 
    paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, not later than 36 months after 
    the date of enactment of the Safety of Seniors Act of 2007, submit 
    to Congress a report describing the findings of the Secretary in 
    conducting such review.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.