Balance Training Print CE Course-3rd Edition With Book

Course components are delivered as printed products:

• Fallproof! Second Edition text

• Fallproof! DVD

• Workbook

• Continuing education exam

Maintaining balance and mobility is essential to aging successfully. Balance Training, Third Edition Print CE Course, has pioneered the use of balance training for three levels of ability in older adults and includes the innovative balance and mobility program developed at the Center for Successful Aging at California State University at Fullerton.

This course introduces in-depth knowledge about the various systems that contribute to balance and mobility, common age-related changes, medical conditions, risk factors, and mediations that affect balance and mobility. A complete battery of assessments that measure the multiple dimensions of balance and mobility is presented. You will learn how to design a comprehensive program including center-of-gravity control training; multisensory training; postural training; gait pattern enhancement; and strength, endurance, and flexibility training.

The course includes a DVD with video clips and forms for assessing your clients and monitoring their progress. The 24 comprehensive lesson plans will enable you to immediately begin creating effective programs. The course concludes with a continuing education exam for credit through participating organizations.

Course Objectives

• Describe terminology used in the study of balance and mobility.

• Identify the multiple systems that contribute to postural stability.

• Describe the major age-related changes that occur in balance and mobility.

• Identify the intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors contributing to falls among older adults.

• Describe the signs and symptoms associated with common medical conditions evident among older adults.

• Understand the importance of modifying balance and mobility activities that are contraindicated or likely to exacerbate symptoms associated with a medical condition.

• Identify categories of medications that are likely to adversely affect balance and mobility.

• Identify areas in and around the home that contribute to heightened risk of falls.

• Understand which biological and behavioral risk factors can be eliminated or reduced through targeted exercise programming.

• Identify several tests used to evaluate balance and mobility in older adults.

• Screen and evaluate the multiple dimensions of balance and mobility.

• Interpret test results and identify the possible causes of the impairments identified.

• Understand how center-of-gravity (COG) control influences balance, and develop a set of exercise progressions that improve COG control in seated, standing, and moving task situations.

• Manipulate the difficulty of a balance activity by altering the task demands, the environmental constraints, or both, and manipulate the task demands, the environment, or both in order to ensure safety.

• Describe how each of the three sensory systems (visual, somatosensory, vestibular) contributes too postural control in different sensory environments.

• Understand how a given sensory system impairment will affect exercise selection and progression.

• Develop a set of exercise progressions to improve the use of the three sensory systems to control balance, and structure a safe practice environment.

• Understand how the task demands and environmental context influence the type of postural strategy used to maintain or restore balance.

• Manipulate the challenge of a balance activity by altering the task demands or environmental constraints (or both).

• Develop a set of exercise progressions that improve the voluntary and involuntary use of the ankle, hip, and step strategies.

• Manipulate the task or environmental demands (or both) to ensure a safe practice environment.

• Describe the phases of the gait cycle and the neural mechanisms that control gait.

• Identify the changes in the gait cycle that are due to age or pathology.

• Describe the characteristic of gait in people with various medical conditions.

• Develop a set of progressive gait activities that help older adults develop a more flexible and efficient gait pattern.

• Understand the contribution of muscle strength to the multiple dimensions of balance and mobility.

• Develop a set of exercise progressions that improve upper- and lower-body strength.

• Incorporate strength exercises into a balance environment.

• Understand the contribution of joint and muscle flexibility to the multiple dimensions of balance and mobility.

• Describe the age-associated changes in joint and muscle flexibility.

• Develop a set of exercise progressions to improve upper- and lower- body joint and muscle flexibility, and incorporate flexibility exercises into a balance environment.

• Identify and apply principles of motor learning for optimal participant learning and retention.

• Understand when and how to apply basic motor learning principles based on each participant’s stage of learning.

• Design tasks and practice environments that progress participants from a more conscious to a less conscious control of balance.

• Understand what type of feedback to present at each stage of learning and how often it should be presented for optimal learning and transfer.

• Plan and implement group-based lessons.

• Manage participants in group-based programs to ensure optimal activity levels and safety, and communicate effectively with participants.

Susan Bovre began her music studies at the Eastman School of Music at the age of four. Dancing lessons followed the next year, and she continued to study both music and dance throughout her school years, graduating concurrently from the Eastman School of Music and Monroe High School. With a degree in drama from Vassar College, Susan brought her dance experiences into the public schools as a volunteer movement teacher. Upon completing her MA in theater arts and dance at San Jose State University, Susan began a career in fitness that has continued for 20 years. Susan completed a certification in gerontology from the University of Arizona in 1991. She has been a part of FitCenter’s evolution into a fully equipped specialty fitness facility that focuses on older adults and those with special medical needs. Teaching balance, chair exercise, aerobics, and aqua classes, Susan uses her dance background to encourage the discovery of each individual’s full range of movement potential in the exercise setting.

"I can now assist several older clients who want help developing systematic and progressive ways to restore balance."

B. Boney—Mauldin, South Carolina

"As a physical therapist assistant in an outpatient rehab clinic, I treat a number of patients aged 50 years and older. I am always looking for insight on balance training for the elderly. Through this course, I’ve gained a greater baseline knowledge for designing and teaching a balance training course at my local fitness center."

L. Orlowski—Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

"This course will help me to create a balanced program for older adults through new exercise progressions and a new understanding of age-related balance disorders.”

B. Peroutka—Bridgeton, Missouri

"I have gained knowledge about testing for balance and mobility, the complexity of the aging process, and the many challenges it presents. I also understand how important it is to develop these programs and use them for our aging population. It has inspired me to continue to develop programs that are appropriate and necessary for the clientele I work with."

K. Janusz—Phoenix, Arizona

"I was very pleased with this course and feel it will greatly help in my exercise activities geared toward my residents who are mainly sedentary and have issues with falls."

C. Barnes—Crystal Lake, Illinois

"I am a certified athletic trainer who works in a physical therapy clinic. I work with multiple patients with balance issues. This class will allow me to include new exercises to keep their programs fresh and interesting."

T. Aultman—Cottonwood, California