Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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David Schwartz
Purpose Prize Fellow 2006
After his mother died of fall-related injuries, former state legislator David Schwartz, 67, became passionate about preventing geriatric falls and founded ElderCare Companies.
After his mother died of fall-related injuries, former state legislator David Schwartz, 67, became passionate about preventing geriatric falls and founded ElderCare Companies.The organization’s goal is to reduce the incidence, severity, and costs of geriatric falls in all 50 states. Eleven million older Americans fall every year with 1.8 million sustaining serious injuries. To reduce that number, Schwartz created a fall prevention program that provides counseling about fall risks, conducts group workshops, distributes monthly reminders of preventative measures, and develops a support system tool that disseminates risk reports to an elder’s family, friends, doctors, and pharmacists.In a recent project in South Florida, ElderCare was able to reduce hospitalizations for falls by more than 50 percent and nursing home admissions by 65 percent among 6,000 low-income elders. Projects in New York and Philadelphia yielded similar results. ElderCare will expand to ten more states over the next few years, and Schwartz is negotiating with HMOs to adopt the program.