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 Finding ways to keep seniors safe from injuries.

To say Ilene Silver is passionate about her job is an understatement. She has as much energy and drive as someone who’s just starting their career, yet she retires this month after 30 years of public service.

Ilene’s been at the Department of Health since early 1989 working primarily in the Injury Prevention Program. She’s managed the Senior Fall Prevention Program for nearly 10 years. She worked previously at the Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Health, as a nutrition consultant where she co-wrote a successful grant with local health partners to launch a statewide breastfeeding promotion program.

When asked why she’s focusing on preventing injuries among seniors, Silver said, “It was the data, plain and simple.” In Washington, people 65 and older are hospitalized for injuries from falls more often than all age groups hospitalized due to vehicle crashes. It’s startling — and not much was being done about it in Washington until about 10 years ago.

In the late 1990s while reviewing annual state injury data, Silver kept thinking something just didn’t add up. How could injuries from falls among older adults be four times higher than motor vehicle occupant injuries? Silver asked an epidemiologist to double-check her calculations. Her math was right. That’s when she knew she had to do something to change it.

In 2002, the program developed a report on senior falls that showed that this is a public health issue. Silver worked to get a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a $1 million community-based senior fall prevention program.

That grant produced an information guide, Stay Active and Independent for Life, for older adults. The program also developed an exercise program that improves strength, balance and mobility, and launched a statewide senior fall prevention coalition.

According to Ilene, the best part of her job is “the innovation and brilliance of our community partners.”

“People really take this issue to heart. It has nothing to do with me,” Silver says, “It’s a testament to this important issue.”