Because of the potential for fractures of the hip and other serious injuries, falls are a major health concern for the geriatric population. PTs can help older patients improve balance through a combination of functional training and therapeutic exercise, but the challenge when treating this patient population is finding activities that test the patients' balance without putting them at risk of added injury. For this reason, more PTs are turning toward aquatic physical therapy as a safe environment for balance training. The first step to any form of balance treatment is the evaluation, which usually begins with a subjective look at the patient's gait and movement patterns, and moves to more balance-focused tests if there appears to be a problem. By carefully evaluating each patient prior to beginning aquatic therapy, PTs can evaluate the scope of the problem and identify any factors that might rule out aquatics for the patient.
Further evaluation is completed while the patient is placed in an unsupported environment.
We then superimpose challenges in various directions and assess the strategies that they use to overcome those challenges. Once a baseline measure is taken in a static environment, the patient is assessed with dynamic activities. The PT times how long the patient can maintain balance. One minute is considered an indicator of good balance. A falls assessment tool that measures balance while sitting and standing, during transfers, and while turning 360 degrees.