In December of 2010, 80-year-old Audrey Albert was doing what she thought was a simple task — bringing her Christmas decorations down from an upstairs room. Unfortunately, as she descended the stairs to her first floor, she fell down the last five stairs and ended up in the hospital, where she received five stitches above her eye.

Despite her stitches, Albert considered herself quite fortunate. She, like many of us, had heard the stories of seniors falling and injuring themselves much more significantly and the impact that a bad fall can have on someone’s life.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that one in every three adults 65 and older falls every year causing moderate to severe injuries such as hip fractures and head trauma — injuries which may make living independently difficult, and which some senior never recover from.

When many seniors fall they hide the fact from their friends, family and even doctors. That, experts say, is the worst thing they can do.

“A lot of people don’t admit they fall,” says Albert, “I’m not ashamed of it. That’s the first time I fell in 80 years.”

Albert’s openness about her fall is part of what led to her hearing about the Falls Prevention Collaborative, a local initiative being implemented by the Community Health Foundation of Western New York.

As a longtime volunteer at DeGraff Hospital (one of the lead organizations in Erie County in the Falls Prevention program), one of her colleagues at the hospital suggested that Albert look into some of the prevention programs being offered and take steps to “falls proof” her home.

In an effort to keep herself safe and improve her physical health, Albert joined Niagara County’s Stay Well program, which incorporates a falls prevention piece called Step Up To Stop Falls. With new knowledge in hand, Albert made some changes around her house.

“There is not a great expense in any of the precautions I took,” she says. “Just common sense things like removing my scatter rugs, plugging in night lights and moving my heavy dishes down to a lower cupboard so I wouldn’t have to use a step stool.

“I never walk around the house in socks anymore. I wear sneakers or shoes with rubber soles all day long.”

She also put nightlights throughout her house — “Mostly so I don’t trip over my dog at night,” she says with a laugh. She has also used a series of Tai Chi videos provided free of charge through the program. (Tai Chi has been proven to help with balance, among other things.)

“It’s mostly changing the little things,” Albert says.

As the Falls Prevention Collaborative has demonstrated, the “little things” make a big difference. The initiative began in the spring of 2007 as a discussion among representatives from a number of groups to determine what could be done to keep older adults living safely in the community as long as possible.

After many discussions, hours of research and interviews with a broad range of health care professionals and individuals in the community, the WNY Falls Prevention Collaborative was formed.

It has since evolved to a multi-dimensional plan that strives not just to create awareness among seniors, but is trying to equip doctors, physical therapists, nurses, and health care workers in all different settings to be aware of risk factors and to communicate them to their patients.

Chris Klotz, who works for the Community Health Foundation, is the program advisor for the initiative. “I’ve worked with elders and older adults in community settings for a long time,” she says. “I get asked by the foundation to think about the kinds of places we can invest resources and expertise to defer what leads to frailty.

“From national surveys we know that falls are a huge reason leading to frailty — falls are one of the top reasons people end up in nursing homes long before they need to be.”

The key to prevention, says Klotz, “is understanding your risks and then getting more active.”

The team working on the initiative has put together a simple, easy to remember, four-step plan to reduce your risk of falls:

Step 1: Check your risk. This means assessing how balanced you feel when walking around your house, checking your vision and acknowledging if you sometimes feel dizzy, lightheaded or have trouble moving up and down stairs.

Step 2: Know your medicines. Many medicines can affect your balance or cause dizziness, especially if taken with other medications. Try to use one pharmacy and take your medications as prescribed.

Step 3: Make your home safer. Eliminate throw rugs (which can easily be tripped on), reduce clutter, make sure stairways have railings and are well lit, add nightlights, install grab bars and make sure regularly used kitchen items are on lower shelves and easy to reach.

Step 4: Exercise daily. Do one or two simple balance exercises daily, such as using your kitchen counter for balance and standing on one leg at a time.

Also, seniors should be open about discussing any falls with their doctors and health care professionals and should try to participate in community efforts for better health and falls prevention.

The Falls Prevention Initiative spans eight counties in Western New York. “If we didn’t encourage each county to work together it would have much less impact,” says Klotz. “We need to continue working together to strengthen the work being done in the community.

“No one professional, no one discipline has the answer. It takes a village, a community of providers working together through interdisciplinary approaches that makes an impact.”

For more information on the initiative, visit www.chfwcny.org. And for more specific information on fall-proofing your home, or questions about connecting to a community wellness program in your area, call NY Connects of Erie County at 858-8526 or the McLaughlin Center for Senior Wellness of Niagara County at 690-2271.