Poison Prevention for Older Adults

Free satellite broadcast and live webcast,
June 7, 2007 (9-10 am Eastern Time)

Speakers:
Gail Banach, MS, IDDE, MS, Ed, BA
Director of Education
Upstate New York Poison Center

Norma A. Barton, BS, CSPI
Certified Specialist in Poison Information
Ruth Lawrence Poison & Drug Info Center

Adults over 60 represented 16% of fatalities reported to poison centers in 2005.

People age 65 and older make up 12% of the population but account for 34 % of all prescription medication use and 30% of all over the counter medication use. Approximately 60% of older adults take their prescriptions improperly and 140,000 die each year as a result.

Goals:

• Increase utilization of Poison Centers by older adults, those care for older adults, or provide services to older adults
• Decrease in the number, cost and severity of poisonings in NYS

Learning Objectives:

• To increase awareness of Poison Centers as a resource for older adults in a poison emergency or for poison prevention information.
• To increase awareness of risk factors for unintentional poisonings.
• To identify specific practices related to the safe use of prescription and over the counter medications including medication management techniques.
• To increase knowledge and practice of poison prevention strategies among
  older adults who care for young children.
  

This Educational Activity is presented by the School of Public Health Continuing Education, which has been approved as a provider of continuing education by the New York State Nurses Association’s Council on Continuing Education, which is accredited by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

It has been approved for 1.0 contact hours and has been assigned approval code 6VKSFE-PRV-06-111.

The University at Albany, School of Public Health is accredited by the MSSNY to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. The School designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This activity is sponsored by the School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY, a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for the CHES to receive 1.0 Category 1 CECH in health education.