[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 845 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 845
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand and
intensify programs with respect to research and related activities
concerning elder falls.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 12, 2007
Mr. Enzi (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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 ``Keeping Seniors Safe From Falls Act
of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among
individuals who are over 65 years of age.
(2) In 2002, falls among older adults accounted for 12,800
deaths and 1,640,000 emergency department visits.
(3) Hospital admissions for hip fractures among the elderly
have increased from 231,000 admissions in 1988 to 327,000 in
2001.
(4) Annually, more than 80,000 individuals who are over 65
years of age sustain a traumatic brain injury as a result of a
fall.
(5) The total medical cost of all fall injuries for people
age 65 and older was calculated in 2000 to be $19,500,000,000.
(6) A national approach to reducing falls among older
adults, which focuses on the daily life of senior citizens in
residential, institutional, and community settings, is needed.
SEC. 3. 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) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
``(1) to develop effective public education strategies in a
national initiative to reduce falls among older adults in order
to educate older adults, family members, employers, caregivers,
and others;
``(2) to intensify services and conduct research to
determine the most effective approaches to preventing and
treating falls among older adults; and
``(3) to require the Secretary to evaluate the effect of
falls on health care costs, the potential for reducing falls,
and the most effective strategies for reducing health care
costs associated with falls.
``(b) Public Education.--The Secretary shall--
``(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, 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.
``(c) Research.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
``(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
those 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, shall
provide professional education for physicians and allied health
professionals, and aging service providers in fall prevention,
evaluation, and management.
``(d) Demonstration Projects.--The Secretary shall 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, 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, 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, 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, to
conduct evaluations of the effectiveness of the demonstration
projects described in this subsection.
``(e) Study of Effects of Falls on Health Care Costs.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall 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.--Not later than 36 months after the date of
enactment of the Keeping Seniors Safe From Falls Act of 2007,
the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the
findings of the Secretary in conducting the review under
paragraph (1).
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--In order to carry out this
section, there are authorized to be appropriated, $25,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2008 through 2010.''.
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