Jason R. Falvey, DPT, PhD

Dual B.S, English and Kinesiology, Husson University, Bangor, Maine 

Doctor of Physical Therapy, Husson University, Bangor, Maine 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 

Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Epidemiology of Aging, Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Falvey is a board-certified geriatric physical therapist and clinician-scientist dedicated to improving aging in place for older adults living with new disability.  Dr. Falvey received both a dual bachelors degree in English Literature and Kinesiology and his DPT degree from Husson University in his home state of Maine, a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, and he subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology of Aging at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Falvey is also the director of The ENhancing Rehabilitation to Improve Community Health (ENRICH) lab, which aims to reduce participation and mobility inequities among older adults. 

Dr. Falvey’s published scholarship and grant funding has focused on improving functional outcomes and quality of life for older adults recovering from disabling hospitalizations, such as those for orthopedic surgery, critical illness, or hip fracture. The overall focus of Dr. Falvey's work is to reduce disparities in healthy aging in place among older adults. This work is currently supported by federal, foundation, and instituional funds. Dr. Falvey is the second physical therapist ever to be awarded a $1.1 million Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders in Aging Career Developement Award (K76) from the National Institute on Aging, which supports a large scale initiative focused on understanding and address neighborhood-level barriers to community mobility among older adults recovering from fall-related traumatic injuries like hip fracture. He uses quantitative epidemiological and health services research methods, qualitative methods, and community-participatory approaches to address research questions important to the Baltimore community and more broadly older adults and their caregivers. 

Dr. Falvey is also the co-principal investigator with Dr. Jasmine Travers (NYU) on a 2 year, $150,000 grant from the The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation to evaluate neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and the resultant impact on nursing home staffing and resident outcomes. Dr. Falvey is also a co-investigator on two additional studies funded by the NIH NHLBI and PCORI evaluating post-acute care use, care transitions, and patient-centered outcomes for older survivors of heart attacks and hip fractures. 

Dr. Falvey also is an active member of the APTA, and serves on multiple committees evaluating how to demonstrate value of post-acute rehabilitation care on patient outcomes following acute hospitalization. He is 1 of 13 appointed members of the APTA Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, and is a standing member of the Post-Acute Care Workgroup. He is also co-lead of the National Value in PT Workgroup of the APTA. Dr. Falvey also has a an appointed position on the Examination Development Committee for the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.

Locally, Dr. Falvey is a member of the Transporation CORE of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, providing input on public transportation infrastructure and accessibility specific to the needs of older adults. 

Rehabilitation epidemiology, rehabilitation health services research, home health care, disability, older adults

Selected First and Senior Author Publications (of 51 total)

Falvey JR, Hajduk AM, Keys CR, Chaudhry SI. Association of Financial Strain With Mortality Among Older US Adults Recovering From an Acute Myocardial Infarction. JAMA Intern Med. 2022;182(4):445–448. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.8569

Falvey, JR, Murphy, TE, Leo-Summers, L, Gill, TM, and Ferrante, LE. Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Disability after Critical Illness. Critical Care Medicine, 2021.

Falvey, JR, Cohen, AB, O’Leary, JO, Leo-Summers, L, Murphy, TE, & Ferrante, LE. Associations of Social Isolation with Disability Burden and 1-year Mortality among Critically Ill Older Adults. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2021. 

Falvey, JR, Ye, JZ, Parker, EA, Beamer, BA, & Addison, O. Rehabilitation Outcomes Among Frail Older Adults in the United States. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. Sept 2022. 

Falvey, JR, Krafft, C, & Kornetti, D. The Essential Role of Home and Community-Based Physical Therapists During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Physical Therapy, Apr 2020. 

Falvey, JR, Hade, EM, Friedman, S, et al. Severe neighborhood deprivation and nursing home staffing in the United States. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022; 1- 9. doi:10.1111/jgs.17990

Albrecht JS, Kumar A, Falvey JR. Association Between Race and Receipt of Home- and Community-Based Rehabilitation After Traumatic Brain Injury Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries. JAMA Surg. Published online January 25, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2022.7081

Felter CE, Zalewski K, Jermann R, Palmer PL, Baier AE, Falvey JR. Rural Health: the Dirt Road Less Traveled. Phys Ther. 2022 Aug 4:pzac112. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzac112. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35925820.

Gimie AM, Melgar Castillo AI, Mullins CD, Falvey JR. Epidemiology of public transportation use among older adults in the United States. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022 Dec;70(12):3549-3559. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18055. Epub 2022 Sep 22. PMID: 36137460; PMCID: PMC9771957.