Falls Prevention - Improving Strength & Balance
Doing regular strength exercises and balance exercises can improve your strength and balance, and reduce your risk of having a fall. It's important that a strength and balance training programme is tailored to the individual and monitored by an appropriately trained professional. You can watch this vido produced by Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Falls Prevention Group and this film demonstrates a series of simple exercises designed to help you improve your health and wellbeing and reduce your risk of falling.
Preventing Falls Leaflet (PDF, 713 Kb)
Top Tips
Here are some top tips to help prevent falls.
Look after your feet
- Make sure your shoes/slippers keep your foot firmly in place. Avoid narrow heels, open backs or worn soles
Stay Well
- Eat healthily and regularly and always take your medicines on time and as prescribed.
Look after your eyes
- Have your eyes tested regularly – it's free if you're over 65
Stay active, stay steady
- Be active – try to do 30 minutes of moderate activity every day to help you maintain balance and muscle strength – this could be split into 3 x 10 minute sessions across the day
Look after your home
- Replace worn floor coverings, remove clutter and ensure your home is well lit
Take a look at some of the Key Moves
Strength and Balance apps
To improve strength and balance it's key that you undertake exercises at home, if you can do so in a safe environment. If you have a mobile phone or smart tablet there are several free apps that have been developed to help reduce the risk of falls and physical decline in older people.
Keep on Keep up is a simple, NHS-approved app that helps older adults improve strength, balance and optimise healthy ageing. Based on scientific research from clinical trials, Keep on Keep up provides tailored exercises and evidence based games which can be easily completed independently at home, by older adults.
Keep on Keep Up is available on iOS iPad, can be downloaded for free form Apple App Store on an iPad and will also be available for Android soon.
Quickly discover how you are ageing by using the LifeCurve™ App, which is underpinned by cutting edge research. The LifeCurve™ App is just one part of the ADL Smartcare services that shape age-related decline.
To live life to the fullest, you need to care for your body. Wysefit helps you identify, plan, and reach your fitness goals. Whatever your targets, we'll help you build a science-based workout plan tailored to your needs.
