Preventing Falls by Senior Citizens on Surgeon
General’s List for Healthy Homes Program
HUD Director also releases Healthy Homes Strategic
Plan at news conference
June 10, 2009 – Preventing falls that injure and
kill so many senior citizens will be near the top of the list of actions
in the Call to Action announced yesterday by Acting Surgeon General
Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H.. The program is called, “The Surgeon
General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes.”
Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D.,
M.P.H., today issued The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote
Healthy Homes at a press conference from the National Building Museum in
Washington D.C.
The Call to Action looks at the ways housing can affect
health; its release will initiate a national dialogue about the
importance of healthy homes.
“The home is the centerpiece of American life,”
Galson, a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, said during a
press conference yesterday.
“We can prevent many diseases and injuries that
result from health hazards in the home by following the simple steps
outlined in this Call to Action.”
Some examples outlined in the Call to Action
include preventing falls by taking measures such as installing grab bars
in showers and preparing a fire escape plan. Falls are the leading cause
of injury deaths among older adults.
Other steps outlined in the Call to Action include:
● Check gas appliances, fireplaces, chimneys,
and furnaces yearly and change furnace and air conditioning filters
regularly.
● Keep children safe from drowning, lead
poisoning, suffocation and strangulation, and other hazards.
● Improve air quality in their homes by
installing radon and carbon monoxide detectors, eliminating smoking and
exposure to secondhand smoke, and controlling allergens that contribute
to asthma and mold growth.
● Improve water quality by learning to protect
and maintain private water wells.
Galson urged everyone from parents and homebuilders
to community leaders and policy makers to embrace the holistic approach
to creating healthy homes outlined in the Call to Action.
During the event, Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also announced the
release of HUD’s Healthy Homes Strategic Plan.
HUD’s plan demonstrates why healthy homes is a
national priority, describes what steps should be taken to achieve
healthier housing, and highlights the key public and private partners
for implementation.
“We are pleased that we are able to release our
strategic plan to the nation today,” Sims said. “We must continue to
work together across communities and the nation to ensure our homes are
sited, designed, built, renovated, and maintained in ways that support
the health of residents.”
The Call to Action outlines the next steps of a
society-wide approach to healthy homes that will result in the greatest
possible public health impact and reduction of disparities in the
availability of healthy, safe, affordable, accessible, and
environmentally friendly homes.
● Individuals can make their homes healthy and
more environmentally friendly by improving air quality, safely using
household products, properly using safety devices, adequately
supervising children, and abating the use of toxic chemicals.
● Organizations can educate at-risk populations
about the connection between health and housing, and identifying and
addressing home deficiencies.
● Health care providers can incorporate healthy
housing solutions into their protocols.
● Government can help create homes that are
affordable and improve people’s health. Adequate supplies of affordable
housing must be made available in order for healthy homes to be
achieved.
“Good health begins at home. Home is the place that
most families connect, talk, and make decisions about their health,”
said Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health within the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
“Ensuring that the nation’s homes are safe,
healthy, affordable, accessible and environmentally friendly will have a
direct, immediate and measurable effect on the health of the nation.”
The Call to Action also highlights the need for
research that links housing conditions with specific health outcomes and
that highlights the impact of disparate access to safe, healthy,
affordable, and accessible homes. The outcomes of this research should
result in tangible improvements to people’s lives by translating
practice into policy.
The release of this document is part of a larger
Healthy Homes Initiative led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HUD with
support from such organizations as the National Center for Healthy
Housing, the Alliance for Healthy Homes, and the Coalition to End
Childhood Lead Poisoning.
Visit
www.surgeongeneral.gov for more healthy home information, to
download The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes,
or to listen to a podcast from the Acting Surgeon General.
To order a printed copy of The Surgeon General’s
Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes, call 1-800-CDC-INFO or email
cdcinfo@cdc.gov and reference the publication title.
June 10, 2009 – Preventing falls that injure and
kill so many senior citizens will be near the top of the list of actions
in the Call to Action announced yesterday by Acting Surgeon General
Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H.. The program is called, “The Surgeon
General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes.”