In response to an article posted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on death rates for older adults due to falls, the St. Louis City Senior Fund’s executive board chair, Bill Siedhoff, and executive director, Jamie Opsal, submitted a letter to the editor to highlight some of the resources supported by the Senior Fund.
Here is the letter that was submitted:
Recent media reports have brought attention to the rising death rate of older adults in the United States due to falls. More locally, the chance of dying from a fall for older Missourians is considerably higher than the national rate. This is why the St. Louis City Senior Fund emphasized fall prevention as one of our priority focus areas for funding. The Senior Fund was established in 2017 to support St. Louis City residents, 60 years or older, aging in community.
Our grants to local organizations aim to move beyond advice and ensure resources are available and accessible to reduce fall risk. Nine organizations were supported in our first year of funding and are now going into their second year of support. This includes organizations like St. Louis Oasis, which offers free evidence-based exercise and education classes in several community locations in the city, and Northside Youth and Senior Services, which collaborates with St. Louis University’s geriatric clinic to help older residents with their medications.
We also support several organizations that help with home assessments, repairs and modifications, including St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Nearly half of fall-injury cases among Missouri older adults occurs at home. For more information on the programs and services supported by the St. Louis City Senior Fund, visit our website at stlseniorfund.org.
The letter was printed in the paper’s August 5, 2019 issue. You can view it online HERE.