ATHENS, Ohio -- As the American population is aging -- more than 40 million Americans will be over the age of 65 by 2010 -- the incidence and severity of falls among the elderly are increasing. To arm you with information you may need, Kurt Auwaerter, a physical therapist at Ohio University Therapy Associates Balance Clinic, will present "Balance and Gait Instability" on Monday, Nov. 5, from noon to 1 p.m. at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, Room B-9. This seminar is the fourth of the fall series of geriatric medicine and gerontology seminars held on the first and third Mondays of each month.
More than 2 million people over the age of 65 suffer at least one significant fall each year, resulting in more than $20 billion annually in health-care costs. Injuries related to those falls are the fifth leading cause of death among the elderly, and two-thirds of all deaths caused by accidents among the elderly are due to falls. But many of these falls can be prevented, if problems with balance and walking can be detected by health-care professionals.
Auwaerter will focus his presentation on identifying those people at risk for falls. Risk factors including muscle weakness, history of falls, gait instability, visual impairment, arthritis, depression and cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's Disease. Once risk factors are assessed, Auwaerter said, a treatment program that includes physical therapy can be implemented.
"People involved in exercise programs have benefited from reduced risk of falling again," Auwaerter said."And they have better gait, better balance, better endurance. Ultimately what we look for, the gold standard, is, 'Have they fallen again?' Studies have shown there has been a reduction in falls."
Health-care professionals are invited to attend the seminar. Brown bags are welcome. The sponsors of the seminars include the Department of Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology, the Western Reserve Geriatric Education Center and Area Health Education Center and OU-COM.
"The seminars are designed for an interdisciplinary audience," said Ellen Peterson, R.N., OU-COM geriatric education coordinator. "Health professionals from the community regularly attend, in addition to interns, residents and medical students. The diversity of disciplines represented by the participants makes for an interesting exchange of ideas."
Peterson said the seminar series was started by a federal grant that established OU-COM as a contributing site to the Western Reserve Geriatric Education Center in September 1994 and has supported many continuing education programs. Provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, the grant supports educational programs in geriatrics and gerontology for physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors and health-care providers to 22 Southeastern Ohio counties.
The next lecture will be Lea Blackburn's presentation on "Early Memory Loss Research" Nov. 19. For more information, call the Geriatric Education Center at (740) 593-2258.
