Mater of Balance and Fallproof! Programs Essay

Mater of Balance Program

Mater of Balance program is an eight-week an award-winning program conducted once per week for a session and is aimed at managing falls and increasing activity levels among adults. The program stresses on practical strategies to minimize fear of falling while increasing activity levels. Participants of the program are taught to view falls and fear of falling as something that can be controlled. Research shows that any older adults are vulnerable to a fear of falling, which reduces their activities thus resulting to physical weakness and therefore increasing their chances of falling. The program held for eight- two-hour sessions are conducted in small groups of eight to twelve participants manned by a trained facilitator. The program initiated at the Roybal Center at Boston University is recognized nationally. Partnership for Healthy Aging provides training sessions for the master of balance program to prepare organizations to practice the idea in their communities. Coaches are taught the program by Master trainers to enhance and sensitize individual in the society about the master of balance program ("Fallproof - History Of The Program" 2018).

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The beneficiaries of the program are the older adults since they are vulnerable to fear of falling. Ideally, the program targets to benefit adults who have in the past sustained falls; are concerned about falls and interested in increasing their flexibility and strength. Besides, it benefits adults of the age of 60 years or older and is community-dwelling. The participants learn to see falls as something that can be controlled and set goals to enable them to increase their body activities. They also learn to incessantly exercise to boost strength and balance as well as making changes to reduce the vulnerability of falling at home.

Fallproof! Program

Fallproof! The program is a national award-winning program that uses a multidimensional initiative to access and treat balance-related problems. The program is effective in reducing the vulnerability of falling of older adults. Debra J. Rose who happened to be director of the Center for Successful Aging at California State University developed the program. The efficiency of the Fallproof! The program was shown back in 2000 after tests were done in a laboratory where the small randomized controlled study was used. The ideas of the program were implemented in 18 senior centers in California, and feasibility study was carried out. The study demonstrated the efficacy and sustainability of the program when it showed increased measures of sensory integration and reception, functional mobility and balance related self-confidence. The program is aimed at promoting functional independence by ameliorating risk factors that lead to fall risks among "at risk" physically weak older adults('A matter of balance, 2018"). The program is focused on improving the role of sensory, motor and cognitive systems by looking into volitional and non-volitional control of the center of gravity, selection, and scaling of postural control strategies, sensory reception and integration skills as well as the development of a flexible and adaptable gain pattern.

Further, the program is structured to be conducted and taught as 60 minutes classes held twice per week. It was initially developed with progressive activities that ran twelve-week period, but currently, it was expanded to 24 weeks since it is deemed that a minimum of 50 hours is required to reduce the incidence of falling among older adults. It is recommended that there should be a group of twelve participants to create an environment that is safe and challenging for all of them.

References

FallProof - History of the Program. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://hdcs.fullerton.edu/csa/FallProof/FallProof_History.htm

A Matter of Balance - Falls Prevention Program | NCOA. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://www.ncoa.org/resources/program-summary-a-matter-of-balance/