Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grants - Institute/Initiative Community Support

Falls are a real and growing risk to health, wellness and independence for seniors aged 65 years and up. From 2017 to 2022, the number of seniors who died from a fall increased from 4,752 to 7,182 (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2025). Falling is the top cause of injury-related deaths, hospital admissions and emergency department visits for seniors. There is a large amount of research on how to prevent falls. Examples of what works to prevent falls include screening seniors for fall risk, providing seniors with exercise that builds their strength and balance, and designing homes, buildings and communities to remove hazards. A group of organizations has formed the Canadian Fall Prevention Collaborative (CFPC) to work together across the country toward the common goal of preventing falls, an approach known as "collective action". The organizations are from public health, healthcare, injury prevention and government and represent 11 provinces and territories. The purpose of this project is to help the CFPC start building their plan for pan-Canadian collective action. The first step is for the group to know what priorities they will build their plan around. Parachute, a national injury prevention charity, will help the CFPC with this process. Together with the CFPC, Parachute will plan and deliver three virtual meetings that are each 90 minutes long. Each meeting will be a step in the planning process, moving forward from the meeting that came before it. For each meeting, participants will be sent an agenda, objectives and background materials. During the meetings, members will participate in a few different ways: small group discussions, full group discussions, polls, and ranking activities. After each meeting, participants will receive a written summary. At the end of the three meetings, the CFPC will have agreement about their priorities for collective action and a list of the next steps they will take to build their full plan.