April is falls awareness month and this years’ campaign theme is “Better Balance for Fall Prevention.” The goal of this campaign is to encourage older people to get active and improve their balance.
So are you at risk of a fall?
If you’re over the age of 65 then yes, one in three older Australians have had a fall in the past 12 months and one in five of those falls required hospitalisation. Not having confidence in your balance impacts wellbeing and lifestyle negatively.
Multiple risk factors have been identified that increase a persons chance of falling such as: as poor vision, low blood pressure, postural hypotension, medication combinations, reduced muscle mass and bone strength and impaired balance.
Exercises that focus on balance and strength training can reduce the risk of falls. A recent Cochrane review (2019) assessing the effects of exercise interventions for preventing falls amongst older populations found exercise programmes reduce the rate of falls as well as the number of people experiencing falls by 25%.
Exercise programmes that include balance, functional exercises, and strength training are the most effective at reducing falls. At Elossa we incorporate balance training into our circuits as well as strength and functional training. Our expert team of Exercise Physiologists have developed a series of circuit programmes that will safely challenge our members to improve strength, balance and overall fitness.
https://fallsnetwork.neura.edu.au/aprilfalls/
Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community (Review) 11 Copyright © 2019 The Cochrane Collaboration