Fall Proof: Enhancing Mobility and Balance in Older Americans

It happens all the time. An elderly relative or friend stumbles or falls … and suddenly becomes afraid to walk.

“I call it the mobility spiral,” says Debra Rose, professor of kinesiology and co-director of the Center for Successful Aging. “As we grow older our balance and mobility becomes compromised, often for a variety of reasons: lack of lower body strength, altered sensory or motor function, certain medications or diagnoses, or a combination of these variables.

“When a fall occurs, it often creates such a fear that the older adult becomes even less active. Of course, this lack of physical activity creates even more mobility problems–making the likelihood of falls even more pronounced. It’s a downward spiral.”

As the developer of Fall Proof, a program designed to help older adults improve their balance and reduce their risk for falls, Rose is involved in a number of projects and initiatives. She was recently appointed as co-director of the California Fall Prevention Center of Excellence–a collaboration of agencies that are working together on a newly funded five-year statewide initiative with the goal of providing fall prevention services and programs to older Californians.

Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths as well as the most common reason for hospital admissions for traumatic injury.

“I became interested in balance and mobility in older adults many years ago, but even more so after my own father fell and sustained a serious head injury,” Rose says. “While general physical activity is good, we also need to systematically target the internal factors that lead to falls. Rarely is there one underlying cause of balance problems. It could be sensory, motor or cognition problems. It isn’t necessarily due to lack of strength alone.

“That’s why centers such as ours here at Cal State Fullerton and the newly developed Fall Prevention Center of Excellence are important, because we can test different fall prevention program models and implement effective programs like Fall Proof in the community.”

Because they are fearful of falling again, older adults tend to avoid situations where there is a possibility of a fall. They avoid crowded places, because they could be accidentally bumped. This lack of mobility often leads to increased social isolation.

The center also works with hospitals, physicians and other health care professionals, helping them better understand the particular needs of the aging populations.

Rose and her colleagues have received several grants, most recently a five-year, $8-million grant awarded by the Archstone Foundation to develop the California Fall Prevention Center of Excellence. Of this, the Center for Successful Aging at Cal State Fullerton will receive $1.3 million, with more funding to follow.

For more information contact Debra Rose, Director Center for Successful Aging at (657) 278-5846
or drose@fullerton.edu. Or contact Pauline Abbott, Director of Institute of Gerontology at (657) 278-4686
or pabbott@fullerton.edu.