Fall prevention is needs a comprehensive patient-centered approach which may include physician consultation, physical and occupational therapy, medication changes, etc… All of these interventions work together to help prevent falls, and just using one strategy rarely achieves satisfactory results.

One important fall prevention strategy includes signing up for a community based fall prevention programs. There is evidence that educational and exercise programs provided at senior centers can be helpful in preventing falls. Article published in Journal of American Geriatric Society noted that roughly half of senior centers offer any of these programs and roughly a third don’t offer any. It was also shown that locales with more senior centers are more likely to offer more evidence based programs. [Evidence-Based Community Fall Prevention Programs at Senior Centers Near 10 US Academic Centers. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 May 3. Hamel C, Hekmatjah N, Hakakian B, Banooni M, Lalezari J, Simino MS, Azizi J, Zaghi D, Kamen L, Atanelov L.] .

Some of the evidence based programs based on the National Council of Aging (NCOA) include: A Matter of Balance, Bingocize, CAPABLE, Enhance Fitness, FallsTalk, FallScape, Fit & Strong!, Healthy Steps for Older Adults, Healthy Steps in Motion, The Otago Exercise Program, Stay Active and Independent for Life (SAIL), Stepping On, Tai Chi for Arthritis, Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance, YMCA Moving for Better Balance.

Notably, the only two forms of Tai Chi noted above are currently on the NCOA list of evidence based fall prevention programs.

Contact your local senior center and ask if they offer any evidence based community fall prevention programs. It should be noted that these programs are not one size-fit-all and professional qualified to recommend the right program for you may need to be consulted.