Balance training to maintain mobility and prevent disability

Balance is important for the safe performance of many activities that allow older people to remain independent in their community. Housework, cooking, shopping, and travel generally require the ability to stand, reach, turn, and bend down and pick up objects from the floor. Multiple interacting factors are implicated in the deterioration of balance. Several strategies have been tested to improve balance and reduce falls. Home-based individualized training that attempted to improve identified deficits reduced falls and improved physical performance and stabilized or reduced disability. Home-based exercise programs that included low-intensity strength and balance training have improved balance and reduced fall rates by about 40% compared to controls. Class-based exercise programs in senior centers or exercise centers have improved balance and physical performance, and some have reduced falls. Programs such as tai chi and social dance look promising and should be further investigated.