CDC Foundation Launches Online Fall Risk Screening Tool

Falls among older adults are a significant public health challenge. Not only are there about 1 million hospitalizations each year due to falls, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 10 older adults experience a fall that results in a broken bone or other injury. If current rates continue, there could be a fall-related death every hour by the year 2030.

To curb that trend, the CDC Foundation and Amgen, with technical assistance from CDC, have launched a 5-year project with three major goals to prevent falls and fall injuries:

• To educate older adults, caregivers, family members and health care providers, that many falls and fall injuries are preventable.
• Provide an easy-to-use fall risk screening tool for older adults to know their fall risk and how to prevent a fall.
• Build and launch a fall prevention planning tool that will serve as a resource guide for older adults and caregivers to reduce the likelihood of a fall and fall injury.

During Fall Prevention Awareness Week (September 18-24, 2022) we’ve launched the Falls Free CheckUp, an online fall risk screening tool developed in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago and the National Council on Aging. Designed to be completed by an older adult or a caregiver, the screener only takes a few minutes to complete, and the answers help the user better understand their risk for a fall.

The Falls Free CheckUp also includes:

• A scheduling assistant so users can make an appointment with a doctor or other healthcare provider to discuss the results. • A downloadable report of the results.
• Important educational resources on fall prevention.
• A video on how best to utilize the information from the Falls Free CheckUp.

Learn more about our fall prevention program here.