The Data Is Clear

Falls are a crisis
hiding in plain sight.

Every year, millions of lives are disrupted by a single misstep. The cost is staggering — in health, in dollars, in independence, and in the invisible toll on families. Here's what the numbers tell us.

The Human Cost

The scale of this crisis
is almost impossible to grasp.

1 in 4
Adults experience a fall each year
CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3M+
Emergency department visits annually from falls
CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
37%
Of those who fall suffer injuries requiring medical treatment
CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
#1
Cause of injury-related death in adults — surpassing motor vehicle accidents
CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
46,653
People died from fall-related accidents in 2022 alone
NSC — National Safety Council, 2022 Injury Facts
Every 11s
An adult is treated in the ER for a fall-related injury
NCOA — National Council on Aging

Behind every statistic is a person — a parent, a spouse, a neighbor. Falls rarely happen in isolation. They trigger a cascade: hospitalization, surgery, extended recovery, loss of confidence, reduced activity, muscle deconditioning, and often another fall. The second fall is almost always worse than the first.

What makes this especially troubling is that the vast majority of falls are preventable. The problem isn't that adults are too frail — it's that no one gave them the tools to train against it.

The Financial Cost

The bill falls on
individuals and families.

$50B+
Annual medical costs of fall-related injuries in the United States
CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
29%
Of fall medical costs are paid out-of-pocket by individuals and families
NCOA — National Council on Aging
22%
Of fall injuries result in more than a month of missed work
NSC — National Safety Council
$70B
Annual cost of slip-and-fall incidents across American workplaces
Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index

The visible costs — hospital bills, rehabilitation, in-home care — are only the beginning. Families absorb enormous hidden expenses: unpaid caregiving hours, career interruptions, home modifications, transportation to appointments, and the psychological toll of watching a loved one lose their independence. These costs rarely appear in the statistics, but they are profoundly real.

The System Cost

Medicare bears the weight
of a preventable crisis.

67%
Of all fall-related medical costs are paid by Medicare
NCOA — National Council on Aging
4%
Of fall costs paid by Medicaid — still billions in absolute terms
NCOA — National Council on Aging
$38B
Annual Medicare expenditure on fall-related injuries
CDC — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
$524M
Projected Medicare savings from the SAFE Act — proving prevention works at scale
APTQI — Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation

Falls aren't just a personal health issue — they're a systemic fiscal crisis. Every dollar invested in fall prevention saves an estimated $2–4 in downstream acute and long-term care costs. The SAFE Act data proves that structured preventive intervention changes the economics of aging. SteadyAF is built on exactly that premise.

The Hidden Toll

The caregiving burden
no one is counting.

63M
Family caregivers currently in the United States — and growing
AARP, 2025
$250B+
In estimated lost wages, benefits, and retirement income for family caregivers
SteadyAF Research Compilation
$96–182B
Estimated annual replacement cost for unpaid family caregiving labor
PMC / National Institutes of Health (NIH)
29%
Of caregivers are "sandwich generation" — caring for both children and aging family members simultaneously
AARP Research

When an adult loses their stability, a family member — usually a spouse, daughter, or son — steps in. They reduce work hours. They skip their own medical appointments. They put retirement savings on hold. This invisible workforce absorbs the costs that never appear in any official accounting of falls.

SteadyAF's Anchor Network was built with these Champions in mind — because keeping an Athlete stable keeps an entire family's life intact.

The Root Cause

Why the current approach
isn't working.

The healthcare system wasn't designed to prevent falls. It was designed to treat them — after the fact. That fundamental mismatch is why the crisis keeps growing.

Reactive, Not Preventive
The system responds after injury occurs — in the ER, in physical therapy, in the nursing home. Prevention rarely gets billed, so it rarely gets done.
🧩
Fragmented Care
Primary care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and home safety are managed in isolation — with no shared view of the whole person.
📊
No Continuous Data
Providers see their patients for 15 minutes every 3 months. What happens between appointments — the training, the medication changes, the close calls — is invisible.
🔄
No Continuity After Discharge
Post-fall rehab ends. The exercises get forgotten. The home hazards go unaddressed. Without a maintenance system, regression is almost guaranteed.
🏷️
An Identity Problem
Labeling someone a "fall risk" creates fear, not motivation. People disengage from movement to avoid falling — which makes everything worse. Language shapes behavior.
👨‍👩‍👧
Families Are Left Out
Champions and family members have no visibility into their loved one's stability, no tools to help, and no way to coordinate with the clinical team.
The Better Way

There's a better way.
We built it.

SteadyAF is the operating system for fall prevention — the first platform to integrate assessment, training, medication intelligence, home safety, provider connectivity, and family coordination into a single, continuous experience.

We don't treat falls. We train against them — proactively, continuously, and with the full support of an Athlete's care network. We don't call our members patients. We call them what they are: Athletes in training.

Proactive
Before the Fall
Prevention-first. Daily training and monitoring instead of reactive treatment after injury.
Integrated
One Platform
Assessment, exercise, medication, environment, and care coordination — all unified.
Personalized
Your Score
Adaptive CAT assessments and personalized training plans that evolve as you do.
Connected
Anchor Network
Providers, Champions, and family share one view — nothing slips through the cracks.
Empowering
Athletes, Not Patients
Identity-first language that builds confidence and sustained engagement over time.
Start Your Journey

Join Athletes training their independence every day.