Small Town News

Medical Lake class promotes senior balance and stability

---

Experts say learning better balance important for avoiding serious injury in older adults

For seniors, falling down could mean more than some minor bruises and a wounded ego.

Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths, nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the risk of being seriously injured by a fall increases with age.

That's one reason Medical Lake's recreation coordinator Ashlee King is urging seniors to steady themselves through a new balance and fall prevention exercise class, now offered through the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

Despite promoting the class at senior gatherings in Medical Lake, Airway Heights and Cheney, King said a few more participants are needed to tip the course toward a planned start date of Feb.16. "I have the space, I have the time and I have the instructor. All I need are the numbers," King said.

The course will take place in the Medical Lake City Hall auditorium on Tuesdays from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. and will last five weeks, until March 16.

The instructor will be Christine Braaten, a certified personal trainer who has taught Pilates, yoga, dance and martial arts for the past four years. She's led previous fitness classes in Medical Lake and elsewhere, and recently co-founded East West Fitness World on north Monroe Street in Spokane.

"A lot of my current work has to do with seniors, in fact there's one Pilates class I have that is all seniors," Braaten said. "It just seems to be the clientele that I draw, and everything is tailored around your clients' needs."

Braaten describes the class as a functional fitness program for people who have reduced ambulatory abilities due to age, illness or injury. She plans to incorporate what's called the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale, a balance and mobility assessment that will allow her to tailor the program to her student's individual needs and give personalized suggestions for improvement.

"The biggest question I get asked is, 'How strenuous is it?'" King said. "Am I going to be up and down off the floor? Am I going to have to buy new tennis shoes? These seem to be the biggest concerns, but I tell them, 'No, it's catered to you, to help you.'"

By using props such as exercise balls, chairs, and even laundry baskets, Braaten's students will adapt to walking on uneven surfaces, strengthen ankles and joints and focus on walking a straight line with outside distractions.

"We all lose some of our ability to move as we get older," Braaten said. "These are some things that can help that."

For more information on the balance and fall prevention class, contact Ashlee King at 565-5007 or by e-mail at aking@medical-lake.org.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at ruan@cheneujreepress.com.



Copyright 2010 Cheney Free Press, Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from Cheney Free Press