Safe Saskatchewan's mission of working together to eliminate unintentional injuries in Saskatchewan has been characterized in many ways on this blog. "Together" has referred to industry working with government. "Working" has included all injury prevention organizations working alongside corporate safety specialists. I've also included the patient's perspective on an emergency room visit and how our province's own Patient First Review can use injury prevention as a solution.

The one area that hasn't been discussed is the role of our health care workers. Most of us view the patient as someone who has acquired an injury and then examines how health care workers treat the injury. While it is hard for health care workers to directly influence the lives of people who have yet to become injured, this is not the case in the area of seniors' falls. Seniors' falls are directly linked to a person's age and health and their risk of falling increases dramatically when both of these elements are present. What's interesting is that this issue and its solutions can be influenced most by health care workers. But the catch is, it means each health professional, who deals with seniors, needs to be aware of the programs and services that constantly change with research and funding.

This is what makes the Seniors' Falls Injury Prevention Steering Committee so valuable. The committee consists of researchers, health care practitioners, community members, seniors, along with various other stakeholders all working towards the same outcome of enhancing the quality of life for Saskatchewan seniors and their families. Communicating on a continual basis is what keeps this group informed about the issue of seniors' falls, its solutions and the falls prevention projects from each corner of our province.

Is this simple? Yes. But don't underestimate how hard it is to keep up to date and talking. The commitment, passion and effort put forward by the Steering Committee members, on top of the facilitation of the entire process, can be exhausting and quite time-consuming.

So far it has been worth every ounce of strength!