If this is not your name, click here. Other Ophthalmic Surgery Organ Transplantation Orthopaedics Other Osteoarthritis Osteoporosis Otitis Otorhino. One-third of adults 75 years and older in an independent living situation report having fallen in the last year. Eighty-seven percent of the fractures caused by those falls lead to health complications or even death.
Complications can decrease independence, lower morale and become a financial burden.
Programs are available to help seniors improve their strength, flexibility and balance so they can avoid falls, but most are in medical settings and not accessible to all older people. The results of the eight-week progressive resistance training program are published in the most recent issue of the Therapeutic Recreation Journal . It is an example of taking what is done in a medical facility into the community. Exercises to improve static balance and balance while moving were also included because a number of falls occur when older people change direction. The participants were tested on flexibility, agility, dynamic and static balance, motor co-ordination, cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance before and after training.