As the National Council on Aging leads Falls Prevention Awareness Week, running September 21 through 25, 2026, aging-in-place resource provider Home Age Fit is directing attention to a frequently overlooked contributor to household falls: the floor itself, evaluated as a complete movement system rather than a single product choice.

The observance arrives alongside newly updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published September 4, 2026. The CDC reports that more than 14 million U.S. adults age 65 and older, roughly one in four, report falling each year, and that the age-adjusted fall death rate rose 21 percent, from 64.7 per 100,000 in 2018 to 78.4 in 2024. On September 16, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons urged families to examine overlooked home hazards, including loose rugs, bathroom surfaces, spills and walking routes, as part of the same national campaign.

Home Age Fit, which produces engineering-informed guidance for seniors and their families, notes that fall-prevention conversations often center on balance, grab bars and clutter removal while treating flooring as an afterthought. The company frames the floor instead as an interacting set of factors, including wet traction, portable mats, surface transitions, drainage, contamination and compatibility with walkers and wheelchairs.

Home Age Fit advocates a "routes before rooms" approach, following the path from hallway to bathroom to shower to step-out area rather than evaluating each surface in isolation. The company's Home Age Fit Slip-Resistant Flooring Guide examines materials, wet zones and transitions together.

"A product label that reads slip-resistant is marketing language, not a measurement," said Oded Feigin, Founder and Lead Author at Home Age Fit. "A friction figure such as a wet DCOF rating is useful specification information, but on its own it cannot account for soap residue, footwear, gait, fatigue or how a surface is maintained. Families benefit from understanding the difference between a claim and a measurable, correctly classified surface used in the conditions it was intended for."

The company points to industry references to explain the distinction. The Tile Council of North America notes that ANSI A326.3 classifies Interior Wet flooring at a wet DCOF of at least 0.42, while more demanding Interior Wet Plus applications are manufacturer-declared. Home Age Fit cautions that no single number should be treated as a universal guarantee across every wet-floor condition. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has also continued work toward a replacement standard after the voluntary ASTM F462 bathing-facility standard was withdrawn in 2016.

The Home Age Fit Non-Slip Bathroom Flooring Guide compares tile, vinyl and rubber across wet traction, seam height and mobility considerations.

"A mat cannot be judged apart from the floor beneath it," Feigin added. "Suction-based grip depends on a suitably smooth surface, so texture and grout joints change the outcome." That reasoning informs the Home Age Fit Non-Slip Bath Mat Guide, which addresses grip, fit, drainage and backing. The company also cautions that maximum texture is not automatically ideal, since traction must be balanced against drainage, maintenance and the rolling effort required by walkers and wheelchairs.

Home Age Fit provides engineering-informed, aging-in-place design resources led by founder Oded Feigin. Its content is educational rather than medical, occupational-therapy or project-specific engineering advice, and the company directs readers to qualified professionals for decisions specific to an individual or home.

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For more information about Home Age Fit, contact the company here:

Home Age Fit
Oded Feigin
info@homeagefit.com
144-42 Jewel Avenue
Flushing, NY 11367
United States