CFVH works to reduce falls in older adults

PLAINS – Clark Fork Valley Hospital is reaching out to Sanders County residents with a free workshop called Stepping On. The workshop’s purpose is to help seniors prevent falls as they navigate their daily routines. The workshop will be held for two hours, every Tuesday, for seven weeks, at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital Conference Center (Building #1 on the Main Hospital Campus – at the end of Horizon Lane) beginning Tuesday, March 18th at 10:30 a.m. Contact CFVH Rehabilitation Services at 826-4821 to register or get more information.

Stepping On will help participants identify why they fall and different ways to prevent falls, including strength and balance exercises, home safety check suggestions and a medication review. Participants will also get the opportunity to view various fall prevention products. The workshop is both for people who have fallen and for people who fear falling. Participants will leave with more strength, achieve better balance and experience a feeling of confidence and independence as a result of performing various exercises and sharing personal fall experiences as a group.

“Many individuals think falling is just a normal part of the aging process but that is not a correct assumption. There are four known risk factors for falls among older adults and every single one of them is modifiable. These classes will be a fun and informal environment aimed at addressing these four risk factors,” said Kathryn Kovanen, DPT and one of the certified

workshop facilitators.

Developed by Dr. Lindy Clemson of Sydney, Australia to help seniors learn ways to prevent falls, the Stepping On workshop was brought to the United States by Dr. Jane Mahoney, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and other partners. Research has found that people who complete the workshop have a 31 percent reduced rate of falls.