Medical Minute: Fall Prevention for Seniors

On National Senior Health and Fitness Day, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital wants to remind its surrounding community about one of its successful health programs for seniors. While staying active and maintaining a healthy diet is important for seniors, preventing injury and sickness is a key part of wellness.

“We all want to maintain our independence,” said Wendy Gunder BSN RN, Injury Prevention Nurse for Mansfield Hospital. “We want to keep doing the things we enjoy with the people we love. But as we age, it's harder to bounce back after illness or injury, especially if it's severe. So it's really important to stay active and build those health and safety strategies so you can stay ahead of and hopefully completely avoid any of the challenges.”

One of Mansfield Hospital's most successful injury prevention programs is Stepping On. The seven-week program has been proven to reduce falls for seniors up to 31 percent. “People receive not only individualized balance and strength training, but we'll discuss how vision plays with keeping your balance, and how medications can contribute to falls,” said Gunder. “We talk about what to look for in safe footwear, how to eliminate those fall hazards from your home to make it a safer space, and even how to stay safe and be confident when you're out in your community.”

Stepping On is a free program at the OhioHealth Ontario Health and Fitness Center for both members and non-members of the facility. To learn more or sign a loved one up, call the fitness center at 419-526-8900 and hit option one. A team member will put you or your family member on a wait list and will contact you the next time a workshop is available.