A Matter of Balance: Program Outcomes for Community-Dwelling Older Adults

<p><strong>Aims: </strong> The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine if A Matter of Balance with volunteer lay leaders (AMOB/VLL) was effective in increasing fall self-efficacy, fall control, and fall management in community-dwelling older adults.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> Participants included community-dwelling older adults over the age of 60 who were concerned about falls and attended at least five of the eight AMOB/VLL program sessions. Fear of falling, pretest, posttest, and 3-, 6-, and 12- month follow-up data were collected from program participants between 2012 and 2013.</p> <p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants demonstrated overall improvements in fall self-efficacy, fall control, and fall management. Qualitative analysis also showed that participants made behavioral, environmental, and physical changes after completing AMOB/VLL. There was also an overall improvement in sit-to-stand scores from pretest to posttest (M = 1.34, SD=2.49).</p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Findings show that AMOB/VLL is effective in decreasing fear of falling by increasing fall self-efficacy, fall control, and fall management.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Occupational Therapy

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Occupational Therapy

Year dc:date.available

2015

Authors dc:creator

• Lau, Tiffany
• Reyes, Victoria
• Angeles, Adrienne
• Hollaway, Leslie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kitsum Li, OTD, OTR/L

• Fall prevention
• fall self-efficacy
• fear of falling
• occupational therapy

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/137

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.dominican.edu:masters-theses-1136