WALNUT CREEK, Calif.—Covia Resident Service Coordinators Sara Choi and Chan Park were honored by the County of Los Angeles for their work in promoting and supporting falls prevention in Los Angeles County.
Choi is a lead resident service coordinator and wellness coordinator at Vista Towers in Los Angeles, and Park is a resident service coordinator at Long Beach Lutheran Tower. They were nominated by by the Los Angeles Falls Prevention Coalition, an organization dedicated to reducing fall risk for older adults through education, advocacy, planning, and community action across Los Angeles County.
Choi translated fall prevention training materials into Korean as well as developing informational flyers. Park completed his training to become a Matter of Balance program facilitator, allowing him to teach the program to Korean-speaking residents at Pilgrim Towers community in Los Angeles.
Covia’s resident service coordinators encourage one another to get more involved in fall prevention programs as part of their role in ensuring residents remain independent and safe in their homes as long as possible.
Katherine Smith, Covia senior director of social services, introduced Choi to the coalition by inviting her to attend a meeting, and she’s been involved ever since. Choi then invited Park to be trained as a Matter of Balance facilitator.
“Falls are not part of the aging process,” says Park. Instead, people “need to be educated, take preventive measures and initiate intervention actions!”
The Matter of Balance class helps seniors prevent falls before they happen, promoting a better quality of life. Through Choi and Park, Korean-speaking seniors can now participate in the program in their first language.
This recognition from Los Angeles is motivation to keep going, Choi and Park explain. “Being recognized was important to me because it opened another door for me as a coalition member and as an resident service coordinator to rethink more ways to prevent falls,” says Choi.
Park says, “I look forward to teaching Matter of Balance to many more Korean-speaking residents next year.”
