"FALL PREVENTION: Implementing What Works" will be held Tuesday at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.

Co-sponsors of the conference are the city's Elderly Affairs Division, Hawai'i Island Adult Care Inc., HMSA, Ohana Pacific Rehab and Project Dana.

The conference is a collaborative effort to educate health professionals, caregivers and seniors on the best practices to prevent falls and their serious consequences, and to promote inter-agency coordination and cooperation. For seniors, injuries due to falls are a major barrier to healthy aging and a critical public health problem. Within the senior population:

i Falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries, injury-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

i Falls cause 80 percent of the hospitalizations for traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

i In Hawai'i every year, on average, 65 seniors die, 1760 are hospitalized, and 4,460 are treated in an emergency department because of falls.

"Falls can be tragic and devastating for seniors age 65 or older; however these accidents are preventable," state Health Director, Chiyome Fukino, M.D., said in a prepared statement. "Fall prevention is critical to the independence and quality of life for our kupuna."

Addressing this issue are two keynote speakers: Dr. Katherine Berg from the University of Toronto and Dr. Debra Rose from the Center for Assisted Living and California State University at Fullerton. In addition, Dr. Rose and local experts from around the state will lead 12 unique breakout sessions, and Dr. Berg will moderate a panel discussing the latest in fall prevention techniques and programs.

"Hospitalization costs for falls in the elderly exceed $45 million dollars per year in Hawai'i, and about half of that (53 percent) is paid by Medicare/Medicaid," said Dan Galanis, PhD, an epidemiologist for the DOH's Injury Prevention Program. This does not take into account the rehabilitation costs, or the enormous fiscal and emotional burden on the families that care for the fall-injured seniors after their release to home monitored living or a long-term care facility.