I am a researcher. I enjoy reading fall prevention studies because I appreciate data that demonstrates the influence of an intervention. I am all about evidence-based programming because the numbers cannot hide the results. Today I did evaluations for two of my community-based FallProof™ balance and mobility training sessions here in Sacramento, CA.
The classes were small but the results were huge! The most significant improvement was made by an 81 year old gentleman who on day 1, did 9 chair stands in 30 seconds but needed to use his hands to get out of the chair. After 8 balance and mobility training sessions (and lots of hard work on his part), he was able to get out of the chair 8 times in 30 seconds, WITHOUT USING HIS HANDS! Woo-hoo....he not only increased his lower body strength but also learned and applied center of gravity training techniques! So proud of him!
His wife improved in all three areas of fitness related to fall risk; increasing both lower body strength and flexibility while improving her dynamic balance and agility score, too. In the same class, an 87 year old participant improved her lower body flexibility by 4 inches and was able to complete two more chair stands in 30 seconds.
Finally, I'd have to mention Stacy (name changed). This 83 year old lady improved her lower body flexibility by three and a half inches and was able to get out of chair, walk around a cone and return to seated position one second faster (and more stable) than 4 weeks ago. Although she still has to use her hands to get out of the chair, she was able to do one more chair stand in 30 seconds than the first day of class.
Most notably however was her comment as she left class. Stacy told me that her grandchildren commented her on her improved posture and said how good she looked. She also said that in prior pictures of her, she always leaned to one side. Last week, someone took a picture of her at a luncheon and she was standing tall and even; ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips and both hips and shoulders were level!
Praise the Lord...this program works IF YOU WORK IT.
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