By Chris Shott
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

In stark contrast to ageold slapstick comedy routines, tripping and falling is no laughing matter at Brooksby.

For the second straight year, the community’s Outpatient Rehabilitation Services Department conducted a fall-prevention assessment program. Along with employees of Brooksby’s Wellness Department, people who live at the Peabody campus voluntarily underwent a series of tests specifically designed to test their balance and stability and reduce their susceptibility to falls.

Alison Fialho, Brooksby’s rehabilitation manager and a certified balance and mobility instructor, supervised the tests, with help from Wellness Department employees Nancy Duffy, senior community services coordinator; Sharon Graves, aquatics coordinator; and Lisa Kirshon, fitness specialist.

Smooth moves
During a seven-hour assessment period one day, more than 60 community members completed the four-step Berg Balance Scale tests, which measured their abilities to complete routine tasks.

“In these four stations, they move from doing easy tasks to more difficult ones,” Fialho says.

“My doctor recommended that I take these tests as a way to get me back into shape, says Maisie Steckel, who lives at Brooksby. “I thought the tests were very good, especially the ones that tested my balance.”

According to Fialho, the fall-prevention assessments were just the first of three phases in the complete balance and mobility program. After all data were collected and analyzed, she says, participants received recommendations about existing campus fitness programs, and staff members decided which new programs to implement.

Back in step
“This is all standardized,” Fialho says. “It starts today with the pre-test program, then we encourage people to enter programs for eight to ten weeks, based on the results of today’s tests. Then we post-test them and analyze the progress they have made.”