A Fall Prevention Program For Elderly Individuals: Exercise in Long-Term Care Settings

• Published in: Journal of gerontological nursing Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 43 - 51
• Main Author: Schoenfelder, Deborah Perry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thorofare, NJ SLACK Incorporated 01.03.2000; SLACK INCORPORATED
• Subjects: Accidental Falls - prevention & control; Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data; Activities of Daily Living; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Exercise Therapy - methods; Female; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatric Nursing - methods; Health Promotion - methods; Humans; Long-Term Care; Male; Nursing Homes; Postural Balance; Program Evaluation; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 0098-9134; 1938-243X
• DOI: 10.3928/0098-9134-20000301-09

Walking and strength training are examples of effective strategies to offset declining strength and improve balance, thus reducing falls and promoting well-being. ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research was to explore the role of exercise in preventing falls, specifically assessing the effectiveness of an ankle strengthening and walking program to improve balance, ankle strength, walking speed, and falls efficacy and to decrease falls and subjects' fear of falling. Sixteen individuals participated in the study which was conducted at two nursing homes. Subjects were assigned randomly to an intervention or control group. The participants in the intervention group completed a 3-month supervised program of ankle strengthening exercises and walking. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample, and differences in the least square means were used to assess the outcome variables (i.e., balance, ankle strength, walking speed, falls, fear of falling, falls efficacy) before the exercise program, and again at 3 months and 6 months after the program for the intervention and control subjects. Findings for the intervention group from pretest to 3-month posttest were, for the most part, maintained or in the predicted direction, suggesting that regular exercise shows promise for preventing deterioration and improving fall-related outcomes for elderly nursing home residents.