Evaluation of the Effect of Stay On Your Feet, a Community-Delivered Falls Prevention Program for Older Adults, on Falls-Related Self-Efficacy and Balance
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Date
2007-10-10T18:19:14Z
Authors
Duncan, Carey Lynn
Keyword
Falls Prevention , Older Adults
Abstract
A pre-test, post-test, randomized control study (n=78) was conducted to test whether participation in Stay on Your Feet (SOYF), a falls prevention program for community-dwelling older adults, improved participants’ falls-related self-efficacy and balance. The Activities Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale (Powell & Myers, 1995) was used to measure falls-related self-efficacy and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (Podsiadlo & Richardson, 1991) was used to measure balance. Participants in both the intervention and control groups scored at the higher end of the ABC Scale (range 0-100) at baseline (mean 76.78 ± 18.91 and 82.46 ± 18.27 respectively) and at follow-up (mean 75.01 ± 19.51 and 84.10 ± 12.49 respectively), suggesting participants in this study were already fairly confident in their ability to manage daily activities without losing their balance. TUG times at baseline and follow-up testing were low suggesting participants had good balance. The SOYF program did not meet its intended objectives of improving falls-related self-efficacy and balance for participants who received the program. Recommendations for changes to future SOYF programming include targeting older adults with a history of falls or identified falls risk factors. The SOYF program was not effective for this study group; however, it may work for older adults at higher-risk for falls.