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Exploring balance challenge in fall prevention community exercise programs for older adults across Canada: A
Alison M Bulow1, Alexie J Touchette1, Alison R Oates2
1Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Background:
Exercise that challenges balance helps reduce falls in older people. Evaluating the intensity of balance challenge is difficult and no validated measures exist for group settings.
Objective:
To examine how instructors determine and perceive balance challenge at the program level, and explore relationships between estimates of program-level balance challenge.
Design:
Cross-sectional self-report study.
Setting:
Electronic survey questionnaire approach.
Participants:
Instructors of Canadian group exercise programs targeting community-dwelling older adults.
Measurements:
Instructors perceived program-level balance challenge and estimates of program-level balance challenge.
Results:
Most instructors (n = 108, 77%) perceived that their programs fully challenged balance among participants. However, no programs were identified as highly challenging. Most of the observed non-verbal balance challenge behaviours observed (n = 4, 80%) had no relationship to perception of balance challenge.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest a misalignment between instructor perception and estimates of balance challenge at the program level. Further investigations of methods to assess balance challenge are warranted.
