Tai Chi has been studied as an intervention to improve mobility and prevent falls in older adults, including those transitioning from long-term care to home settings.

Clinical evidence indicates that well-designed exercise programs emphasizing balance training, which includes Tai Chi, effectively reduce fall risks and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling seniors .

Specifically, a review of 17 studies involving over 4,000 participants found that balance-focused exercises, including Tai Chi, generally reduced the rate of falls and serious injuries such as fractures.

Although Tai Chi was evaluated in only two of these studies, alongside other balance and functional training types, it was part of programs demonstrating protective effects.

Mechanistically, Tai Chi promotes improved proprioception, balance, coordination, and body awareness—factors essential for mobility stability and fall prevention.

Research into cognitively enhanced Tai Chi combining physical and mental challenges showed benefits on global cognition and dual-task walking performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairments, lasting up to nearly a year, suggesting sustained gains .

These combined physical-cognitive benefits further support Tai Chi’s role in reducing fall risks related to impaired motor and cognitive function.

Regarding frequency and duration, the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi study involved 1-hour sessions twice weekly over 24 weeks, with measurable improvements observed during and persisting post-intervention .

Other balance training regimens, including reactive balance training post-trip, utilized twice-weekly sessions for 3 weeks, showing functional gains .

This suggests that consistent, biweekly practice over several months is generally effective.

Adherence appears viable as Tai Chi can be performed in group classes or individually, and geriatric clinicians recommend its use as safe and beneficial .

Tai Chi has been studied as an intervention to improve mobility and prevent falls in older adults, including those transitioning from long-term care to home settings.

Title:

Content: Exercise programs meant to prevent falls in seniors may also help prevent injuries caused by falls, according to a new review.

Fall-related injuries are common among seniors and a major cause of long-term pain and disability. They also increase the risk of having to go to a nursing home and have a high economic cost.

The new findings, published online Oct. 29 in the journal bmj.com, suggest that "reducing the risk of falling and improving protective responses during a fall may be an important and feasible means of preventing fractures and other serious injuries in the elderly," the study authors wrote in a journal news release.

Well-designed exercise programs can prevent falls in seniors living at home, but there is a lack of evidence on whether such programs can help prevent fall-related injuries, said French researchers Fabienne El-Khoury and colleagues.

In this review, they analyzed 17 studies that looked at whether fall-prevention exercises lowered seniors' risk of fractures and other injuries caused by falls. More than 4,000 participants were involved in all.

Tai Chi was the exercise in two of the studies, but most of them used gait, balance, strength and functional training, which involves workouts that help people do normal daily activities.

Most of the programs reduced fall-related injuries and appeared to significantly curb falls that lead to fractures, serious injuries and medical care.

Balance training was emphasized in all of the exercises that were effective in preventing falls, the researchers noted.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about older adults and falls.

Latest videos

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Clinical evidence indicates that well-designed exercise programs emphasizing balance training, which includes Tai Chi, effectively reduce fall risks and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling seniors .

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Specifically, a review of 17 studies involving over 4,000 participants found that balance-focused exercises, including Tai Chi, generally reduced the rate of falls and serious injuries such as fractures.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Although Tai Chi was evaluated in only two of these studies, alongside other balance and functional training types, it was part of programs demonstrating protective effects.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Mechanistically, Tai Chi promotes improved proprioception, balance, coordination, and body awareness—factors essential for mobility stability and fall prevention.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Research into cognitively enhanced Tai Chi combining physical and mental challenges showed benefits on global cognition and dual-task walking performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairments, lasting up to nearly a year, suggesting sustained gains .

Title:

Content: Lifestyle Interventions and Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's and Dementia

— "Without any change, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease could more than double"

MedpageToday

Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's and other dementias may be delayed for some at-risk older adults, recent clinical trials have suggested.

The ACHIEVE study, for example, reported that hearing aids cut the rate of cognitive decline by 48% over 3 years in older adults who had a high risk of dementia. And in a randomized controlled trial of people with mild cognitive impairment or self-reported memory concerns, cognitively enhanced tai-chi led to improved global cognition scores.

"Currently, two-thirds of Americans have at least one major risk factor for dementia," said Heather Snyder, PhD, of the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago.

"The need for effective risk reduction strategies to help all communities grows larger by the day," Snyder stated. "Without any change, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease could more than double by mid-century."

In 2015, the FINGER study in Finland was the first randomized controlled trial to show it was possible to delay cognitive decline using a multidomain lifestyle intervention.

In the U.S., the POINTER study is evaluating multiple ways to protect cognition in 2,000 at-risk older adults. "Recruiting for the clinical trial was successfully completed in March 2023," Snyder said. "The study is expected to begin reporting results in summer 2025."

"U.S. POINTER community-based teams recruited nearly 30% of participants from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in research, including racially and ethnically minoritized individuals and those from rural areas," she added.

New Clinical Trial Data

About 40% of dementia cases may be prevented or delayed by modifying 12 risk factors, according to a 2020 report from the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care.

In the past year, several trials have shown that lifestyle interventions -- notably ones involving physical exercise or hearing aids -- could delay dementia onset. Two trials have combined exercise with a cognitive component, including a study of cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Research has shown that both physical and mental activity may attenuate age-related declines in cognitive function and dual task activities, but combined physical and mental challenges may be more effective than either alone," said study co-author Peter Harmer, PhD, MPH, of the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene.

Cognitively enhanced tai chi was designed to synergistically stimulate neuroplasticity, Harmer noted. The regimen included an emphasis on performing properly despite an interfering mental or motor task, following instructions that required recalling names and detailed steps, and distinguishing correct from miscued instructions.

The study randomized older adults with mild cognitive impairment or self-reported memory concerns to stretching, standard tai chi, or cognitively enhanced tai chi for 1 hour semi-weekly for 24 weeks. The cognitively enhanced tai chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in both global cognition scores and dual-task performance while walking, with effects persisting at 48 weeks.

The SYNERGIC trial, published in JAMA Network Open, took a different approach to combining physical exercise and cognitive training. SYNERGIC randomized older adults with mild cognitive impairment to physical exercise with or without cognitive training and vitamin D supplementation for 20 weeks.

Overall, those who received aerobic-resistance exercises with sequential computerized cognitive training had improved cognition, but some results were inconsistent.

The multidomain intervention effect was larger than the improvement from exercise alone, reported Manuel Montero-Odasso, MD, PhD, of the Parkwood Institute in London, Ontario, and co-authors, and vitamin D supplementation showed no significant benefit. In several arms of the trial, cognitive improvements diminished slightly at 12 months, but did not revert to baseline levels.

Another intervention that showed promise was the use of hearing aids. Hearing loss is treatable in later life, which makes it an important public health target to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, noted Frank Lin, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues who reported the findings of the ACHIEVE trial in The Lancet.

ACHIEVE assigned participants to one of two interventions -- either hearing aids or a health education program. Both groups received follow-up visits every 6 months, and cognitive tests were conducted every year for 3 years.

The trial's main analysis showed no difference in the rate of change in cognitive functioning between the hearing aid group and the education group. In a pre-specified analysis of participants with high risk for future dementia, however, cognitive decline was reduced over 3 years in those assigned to wear hearing aids compared with those who received health education.

Policies to Help Reduce Cognitive Decline

Research about Alzheimer's and dementia risk factors is evolving, and Lancet Commission researcher Gill Livingston, MD, of the University College London in England, is optimistic that policymakers will continue to use new insights to help reduce global cognitive decline.

Since 2020, several countries have taken steps to address modifiable risk factors, Livingston noted. "U.S. policy has changed, and many countries and the World Health Organization have issued new policy documents," she said.

In the U.S., the 2023 update to the National Alzheimer's Project Act included new risk reduction strategies, Livingston pointed out. The CDC also extended its Healthy Brain Initiative program with state and local health officials.

An updated Lancet Commission report about dementia is under review and should be published this year, Livingston said.

Disclosures

Snyder had no conflicts of interest.

Harmer reported no conflicts of interest.

Livingston had no conflicts of interest.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What has a study that includes the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi found out?

The cognitively enhanced Tai Chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in dual-task performance while walking.

The cognitively enhanced Tai Chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in global cognition scores.

What health advantages have been linked to regular practice of Tai Chi?

What study was included in trials combining excercise with a cognitive compoent?

Cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia.

These combined physical-cognitive benefits further support Tai Chi’s role in reducing fall risks related to impaired motor and cognitive function.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms of Parkinson's disease that may cause falls of elderly patients.

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

What study was included in trials combining excercise with a cognitive compoent?

Cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Regarding frequency and duration, the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi study involved 1-hour sessions twice weekly over 24 weeks, with measurable improvements observed during and persisting post-intervention .

How often should one practice Tai Chi to benefit from the exercise?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What has a study that includes the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi found out?

The cognitively enhanced Tai Chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in global cognition scores.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

What study was included in trials combining excercise with a cognitive compoent?

Cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia.

Other balance training regimens, including reactive balance training post-trip, utilized twice-weekly sessions for 3 weeks, showing functional gains .

Title:

Content: Newswise — The sounds of Jon Passic’s footsteps inside the Occupational Ergonomics and Biomechanics Lab in Whittemore Hall were barely discernible over Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” blaring from a small speaker.

Passic, who wore a fall protection harness connected to an overhead support system, paced back and forth on the lab’s testing walkway. Suddenly, the whirring of the harness stopped as Passic tripped over a manufactured hazard in his path. He reacted with a series of quick, short steps, pulled his body upright, and continued to walk forward as a group of graduate students and researchers watched his every move on a set of monitors.

While the trip was unexpected for Passic, the team of engineers conducting this experiment had meticulously planned that exact moment to observe his recovery.

Passic is just one participant in a study led by the Madigan Biomechanics Group in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering that seeks solutions to a common problem: trips and falls. Professor Michael Madigan and Ph.D. candidate Youngjae Lee are researching how an innovative balance training regimen could potentially reduce injuries sustained from trip-induced falls in adults over 65.

“Falls are the No. 1 contributor to injuries among adults over the age of 65, and tripping while walking is a major reason for this,” said Madigan.  “How we move our body in response to a trip makes all the difference in the world in terms of whether we will fall or be able to recover our balance. What we’re doing with this training is trying to improve that response, so we can do it effectively without thinking about it."

Modern, accessible solutions for a common problem

Improving a person’s balance to prevent serious falls is not uncommon research for human factors groups, but balancing efficacy and accessibility can be challenging. For Madigan, however, this is not his first venture to harness an innovative solution to preventing trip-induced falls. His prior research focused on understanding why falls happen and developing corresponding balance training programs to improve reactive response after a trip. Most of this training used a highly specialized treadmill, which while effective, proved to be expensive and cumbersome.

“Even if the treadmill works from a scientific perspective, we had to consider if it was cost effective for the end user,” Madigan said. “That’s really most of our focus for this research — how can we get rid of the treadmill all together while still training better responses to a trip?”

Removing the treadmill not only makes the training much more cost effective, but also increases accessibility. Training could then take place at senior community centers, rehabilitation offices, retirement communities, and other locations.

“Dr. Madigan mentioned that non-treadmill training could hopefully resolve limitations regarding cost and space,” Lee said. “It was a perfect fit for my research interests. We went through multiple pilot studies to develop a non-treadmill training method, and the current protocol we’re using is a result of those studies.”

After the pilot studies were completed, Lee sorted his research into three parts. First, Lee and Madigan developed a training program that focuses on reactively regaining balance after tripping. Next, Lee has been testing wearable sensors outside the lab to determine if they can accurately track movements and record data for researchers. From there, the goal is for the wearable sensors to measure the effectiveness of balance training in the real world — where trips are largely unavoidable and unexpected rather than a lab setting where most of this research has already been done.

Practice makes perfect

Lee’s research focuses on reactive balance, or a person’s ability to respond to a trip and regain balance, and researchers have identified key movements that can make this possible. Lee’s balance training helps participants regain their centers of gravity and strengthen their bodies so recovery after a fall is easier.

Prior research has shown that when people trip, they must do three things to prevent a fall:

  • Quickly control the motion of their torso and try to avoid leaning forward.
  • Take quick steps to get their feet in front of the center of their body and continue stepping forward.
  • Ensure their legs don't collapse by maintaining adequate hip height.

The balance training allows participants to safely and repeatedly practice these movements in a controlled manner. Over the course of three weeks, Lee and other graduate students meet with participants twice per week to go through  progressive stepping exercises that mimic the movements necessary to regain footing during a fall. Once participants are comfortable stepping, the training extends to balancing the upper body and learning to balance the torso.

At the end of their training program, participants harness up and test their balance recovery skills in the lab.

“Youngjae’s research is allowing people to practice these movements over and over in a safe, controlled environment,” Madigan said. “We’re able to put people in body postures similar to what they would experience if they tripped and then allow them to practice these critical movements that we, and others, have identified as the movements you need to complete to recover your balance. As much as we can, we try to simulate a real trip and let participants practice how they would respond to it.”

In addition to the balance training, participants wear the sensors that record body movements on their shoes and underneath their clothing outside the lab for three weeks after training. Lee checks the wearable sensors weekly to ensure they’re working properly and collecting data. Participants also use voice recorders to describe any incidents of trips and falls and subsequent response.

“The data from the wearable sensors shows us if there are any differences in responses to slips and trips from people who have completed the training,” Lee said. “Not only could these sensors provide meaningful data, they are also less expensive and require less setup time than similar testing in a lab.”

Lee plans to conclude research this summer and defend his dissertation at the end of the year. Pending results, researchers hope to partner with organizations and recruit even more participants to continue learning about mitigating trip-induced falls. Eventually, the goal is for balance training to occur in spaces widely used by older adults, such as retirement communities and senior centers.

To recruit participants for the study, Lee and Madigan partnered with Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, the Virginia Tech Lifelong Learning Institute, local senior centers in Christiansburg and Blacksburg, and Warm Hearth Village.

This suggests that consistent, biweekly practice over several months is generally effective.

How often should one practice Tai Chi to benefit from the exercise?

Adherence appears viable as Tai Chi can be performed in group classes or individually, and geriatric clinicians recommend its use as safe and beneficial .

Title:

Content: Many older people are suffering long-term physical effects from cocooning over the last 18 months, a leading geriatrician has warned.

Kirstyn James, who worked in Cork University Hospital (CUH) during the pandemic, said it is “very worrying” that some older people have not yet resumed their normal lives.

“We are seeing more frail older adults during our assessments,” she said.

“We are meeting people who have reported a big change in their mobility. A lot of that is to do with the huge lifestyle changes they have had to make since the pandemic started.”

Dr James said it is apparent that some older people have not resumed any normal activities and continue to lead sheltered lives.

In her experience, older people struggle with getting out of bed or crossing a room, while others have said the walks they can manage outside of the house are shorter than pre-Covid.

A big challenge in older adults is that when you stop exercising or don’t use your muscles, you can have a big difference in your mobility.

"It can be much harder to get back to where you were. It can take a lot longer to recover than the time it took to lose the mobility.”

Many HSE-provided exercises classes for older people have not yet reopened nor have specialist classes in some private gyms, she said.

“It really is a case of use it or lose it when it comes to your mobility.”

There has been a dedicated geriatric team in CUH emergency department during the pandemic, with staff from different areas working together.

“We, as geriatricians, know it is very important to look not just at medical conditions that are important in older age but to try and promote health and wellbeing in older adults,” she said.

“Assessing mobility is one of the ways that we do that.”

The team was the first in Europe to be recognised as having an ‘age-friendly system’ by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Dr James has now published a mobility assessment video in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine

Mobility tests

It includes mobility tests for older people which can alert healthcare staff to problems.

The video, available through the journal’s website and developed at CUH, is also suitable for older people or family members to learn from, said Dr James.

She said that geriatricians can then advise on maybe changing footwear or assessing if medication might be affecting balance.

She recommended that older people consider tai chi or chair-based exercises, even done at home.

“We would like to see a return to those sorts of [group] activities but only when it is safe to do so.”

She urged older people to do as much exercise and socialising as they are comfortable with.

“I think it is difficult to balance trying to protect people from a public health point of view. And then, as geriatricians, we are very concerned about older adults having declining mobility.”

More in this section

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.


Tai Chi has been studied as an intervention to improve mobility and prevent falls in older adults, including those transitioning from long-term care to home settings.

Clinical evidence indicates that well-designed exercise programs emphasizing balance training, which includes Tai Chi, effectively reduce fall risks and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling seniors .

Specifically, a review of 17 studies involving over 4,000 participants found that balance-focused exercises, including Tai Chi, generally reduced the rate of falls and serious injuries such as fractures.

Although Tai Chi was evaluated in only two of these studies, alongside other balance and functional training types, it was part of programs demonstrating protective effects.

Mechanistically, Tai Chi promotes improved proprioception, balance, coordination, and body awareness—factors essential for mobility stability and fall prevention.

Research into cognitively enhanced Tai Chi combining physical and mental challenges showed benefits on global cognition and dual-task walking performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairments, lasting up to nearly a year, suggesting sustained gains .

These combined physical-cognitive benefits further support Tai Chi’s role in reducing fall risks related to impaired motor and cognitive function.

Regarding frequency and duration, the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi study involved 1-hour sessions twice weekly over 24 weeks, with measurable improvements observed during and persisting post-intervention .

Other balance training regimens, including reactive balance training post-trip, utilized twice-weekly sessions for 3 weeks, showing functional gains .

This suggests that consistent, biweekly practice over several months is generally effective.

While other fall prevention strategies such as reactive balance training and strength conditioning are studied, Tai Chi’s accessibility and low cost make it particularly feasible for community settings and home-based rehabilitation, aligning well with occupational therapy goals during patient transitions from long-term care.

Adherence appears viable as Tai Chi can be performed in group classes or individually, and geriatric clinicians recommend its use as safe and beneficial .

Limitations include a relative scarcity of large-scale RCTs focusing solely on Tai Chi, heterogeneity in Tai Chi styles, and variations in study population health status.

Some reviews note that successful fall prevention programs require integration with broader physical, psychological, and social supports .

However, current evidence supports Tai Chi as an effective component of multifactorial fall prevention strategies.

In conclusion, the clinical evidence supports Tai Chi as an effective intervention to improve balance, mobility, and reduce fall risk among older adults.

Regular practice—generally 1-hour sessions twice weekly over several months—is associated with measurable benefits.

For occupational therapists facilitating patient transitions to home, incorporating Tai Chi into rehab programs is advisable to enhance physical stability and promote independence.

Tai Chi has been studied as an intervention to improve mobility and prevent falls in older adults, including those transitioning from long-term care to home settings.

Title:

Content: Exercise programs meant to prevent falls in seniors may also help prevent injuries caused by falls, according to a new review.

Fall-related injuries are common among seniors and a major cause of long-term pain and disability. They also increase the risk of having to go to a nursing home and have a high economic cost.

The new findings, published online Oct. 29 in the journal bmj.com, suggest that "reducing the risk of falling and improving protective responses during a fall may be an important and feasible means of preventing fractures and other serious injuries in the elderly," the study authors wrote in a journal news release.

Well-designed exercise programs can prevent falls in seniors living at home, but there is a lack of evidence on whether such programs can help prevent fall-related injuries, said French researchers Fabienne El-Khoury and colleagues.

In this review, they analyzed 17 studies that looked at whether fall-prevention exercises lowered seniors' risk of fractures and other injuries caused by falls. More than 4,000 participants were involved in all.

Tai Chi was the exercise in two of the studies, but most of them used gait, balance, strength and functional training, which involves workouts that help people do normal daily activities.

Most of the programs reduced fall-related injuries and appeared to significantly curb falls that lead to fractures, serious injuries and medical care.

Balance training was emphasized in all of the exercises that were effective in preventing falls, the researchers noted.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about older adults and falls.

Latest videos

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Clinical evidence indicates that well-designed exercise programs emphasizing balance training, which includes Tai Chi, effectively reduce fall risks and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling seniors .

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Specifically, a review of 17 studies involving over 4,000 participants found that balance-focused exercises, including Tai Chi, generally reduced the rate of falls and serious injuries such as fractures.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Although Tai Chi was evaluated in only two of these studies, alongside other balance and functional training types, it was part of programs demonstrating protective effects.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Mechanistically, Tai Chi promotes improved proprioception, balance, coordination, and body awareness—factors essential for mobility stability and fall prevention.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Research into cognitively enhanced Tai Chi combining physical and mental challenges showed benefits on global cognition and dual-task walking performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairments, lasting up to nearly a year, suggesting sustained gains .

Title:

Content: Lifestyle Interventions and Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's and Dementia

— "Without any change, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease could more than double"

MedpageToday

Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's and other dementias may be delayed for some at-risk older adults, recent clinical trials have suggested.

The ACHIEVE study, for example, reported that hearing aids cut the rate of cognitive decline by 48% over 3 years in older adults who had a high risk of dementia. And in a randomized controlled trial of people with mild cognitive impairment or self-reported memory concerns, cognitively enhanced tai-chi led to improved global cognition scores.

"Currently, two-thirds of Americans have at least one major risk factor for dementia," said Heather Snyder, PhD, of the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago.

"The need for effective risk reduction strategies to help all communities grows larger by the day," Snyder stated. "Without any change, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease could more than double by mid-century."

In 2015, the FINGER study in Finland was the first randomized controlled trial to show it was possible to delay cognitive decline using a multidomain lifestyle intervention.

In the U.S., the POINTER study is evaluating multiple ways to protect cognition in 2,000 at-risk older adults. "Recruiting for the clinical trial was successfully completed in March 2023," Snyder said. "The study is expected to begin reporting results in summer 2025."

"U.S. POINTER community-based teams recruited nearly 30% of participants from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in research, including racially and ethnically minoritized individuals and those from rural areas," she added.

New Clinical Trial Data

About 40% of dementia cases may be prevented or delayed by modifying 12 risk factors, according to a 2020 report from the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care.

In the past year, several trials have shown that lifestyle interventions -- notably ones involving physical exercise or hearing aids -- could delay dementia onset. Two trials have combined exercise with a cognitive component, including a study of cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Research has shown that both physical and mental activity may attenuate age-related declines in cognitive function and dual task activities, but combined physical and mental challenges may be more effective than either alone," said study co-author Peter Harmer, PhD, MPH, of the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene.

Cognitively enhanced tai chi was designed to synergistically stimulate neuroplasticity, Harmer noted. The regimen included an emphasis on performing properly despite an interfering mental or motor task, following instructions that required recalling names and detailed steps, and distinguishing correct from miscued instructions.

The study randomized older adults with mild cognitive impairment or self-reported memory concerns to stretching, standard tai chi, or cognitively enhanced tai chi for 1 hour semi-weekly for 24 weeks. The cognitively enhanced tai chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in both global cognition scores and dual-task performance while walking, with effects persisting at 48 weeks.

The SYNERGIC trial, published in JAMA Network Open, took a different approach to combining physical exercise and cognitive training. SYNERGIC randomized older adults with mild cognitive impairment to physical exercise with or without cognitive training and vitamin D supplementation for 20 weeks.

Overall, those who received aerobic-resistance exercises with sequential computerized cognitive training had improved cognition, but some results were inconsistent.

The multidomain intervention effect was larger than the improvement from exercise alone, reported Manuel Montero-Odasso, MD, PhD, of the Parkwood Institute in London, Ontario, and co-authors, and vitamin D supplementation showed no significant benefit. In several arms of the trial, cognitive improvements diminished slightly at 12 months, but did not revert to baseline levels.

Another intervention that showed promise was the use of hearing aids. Hearing loss is treatable in later life, which makes it an important public health target to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, noted Frank Lin, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues who reported the findings of the ACHIEVE trial in The Lancet.

ACHIEVE assigned participants to one of two interventions -- either hearing aids or a health education program. Both groups received follow-up visits every 6 months, and cognitive tests were conducted every year for 3 years.

The trial's main analysis showed no difference in the rate of change in cognitive functioning between the hearing aid group and the education group. In a pre-specified analysis of participants with high risk for future dementia, however, cognitive decline was reduced over 3 years in those assigned to wear hearing aids compared with those who received health education.

Policies to Help Reduce Cognitive Decline

Research about Alzheimer's and dementia risk factors is evolving, and Lancet Commission researcher Gill Livingston, MD, of the University College London in England, is optimistic that policymakers will continue to use new insights to help reduce global cognitive decline.

Since 2020, several countries have taken steps to address modifiable risk factors, Livingston noted. "U.S. policy has changed, and many countries and the World Health Organization have issued new policy documents," she said.

In the U.S., the 2023 update to the National Alzheimer's Project Act included new risk reduction strategies, Livingston pointed out. The CDC also extended its Healthy Brain Initiative program with state and local health officials.

An updated Lancet Commission report about dementia is under review and should be published this year, Livingston said.

Disclosures

Snyder had no conflicts of interest.

Harmer reported no conflicts of interest.

Livingston had no conflicts of interest.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What has a study that includes the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi found out?

The cognitively enhanced Tai Chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in dual-task performance while walking.

The cognitively enhanced Tai Chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in global cognition scores.

What health advantages have been linked to regular practice of Tai Chi?

What study was included in trials combining excercise with a cognitive compoent?

Cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia.

These combined physical-cognitive benefits further support Tai Chi’s role in reducing fall risks related to impaired motor and cognitive function.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms of Parkinson's disease that may cause falls of elderly patients.

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

What study was included in trials combining excercise with a cognitive compoent?

Cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Regarding frequency and duration, the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi study involved 1-hour sessions twice weekly over 24 weeks, with measurable improvements observed during and persisting post-intervention .

How often should one practice Tai Chi to benefit from the exercise?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What has a study that includes the cognitively enhanced Tai Chi found out?

The cognitively enhanced Tai Chi group outperformed other groups on improvements in global cognition scores.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

What study was included in trials combining excercise with a cognitive compoent?

Cognitively enhanced tai chi in older adults at risk for dementia.

Other balance training regimens, including reactive balance training post-trip, utilized twice-weekly sessions for 3 weeks, showing functional gains .

Title:

Content: Newswise — The sounds of Jon Passic’s footsteps inside the Occupational Ergonomics and Biomechanics Lab in Whittemore Hall were barely discernible over Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” blaring from a small speaker.

Passic, who wore a fall protection harness connected to an overhead support system, paced back and forth on the lab’s testing walkway. Suddenly, the whirring of the harness stopped as Passic tripped over a manufactured hazard in his path. He reacted with a series of quick, short steps, pulled his body upright, and continued to walk forward as a group of graduate students and researchers watched his every move on a set of monitors.

While the trip was unexpected for Passic, the team of engineers conducting this experiment had meticulously planned that exact moment to observe his recovery.

Passic is just one participant in a study led by the Madigan Biomechanics Group in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering that seeks solutions to a common problem: trips and falls. Professor Michael Madigan and Ph.D. candidate Youngjae Lee are researching how an innovative balance training regimen could potentially reduce injuries sustained from trip-induced falls in adults over 65.

“Falls are the No. 1 contributor to injuries among adults over the age of 65, and tripping while walking is a major reason for this,” said Madigan.  “How we move our body in response to a trip makes all the difference in the world in terms of whether we will fall or be able to recover our balance. What we’re doing with this training is trying to improve that response, so we can do it effectively without thinking about it."

Modern, accessible solutions for a common problem

Improving a person’s balance to prevent serious falls is not uncommon research for human factors groups, but balancing efficacy and accessibility can be challenging. For Madigan, however, this is not his first venture to harness an innovative solution to preventing trip-induced falls. His prior research focused on understanding why falls happen and developing corresponding balance training programs to improve reactive response after a trip. Most of this training used a highly specialized treadmill, which while effective, proved to be expensive and cumbersome.

“Even if the treadmill works from a scientific perspective, we had to consider if it was cost effective for the end user,” Madigan said. “That’s really most of our focus for this research — how can we get rid of the treadmill all together while still training better responses to a trip?”

Removing the treadmill not only makes the training much more cost effective, but also increases accessibility. Training could then take place at senior community centers, rehabilitation offices, retirement communities, and other locations.

“Dr. Madigan mentioned that non-treadmill training could hopefully resolve limitations regarding cost and space,” Lee said. “It was a perfect fit for my research interests. We went through multiple pilot studies to develop a non-treadmill training method, and the current protocol we’re using is a result of those studies.”

After the pilot studies were completed, Lee sorted his research into three parts. First, Lee and Madigan developed a training program that focuses on reactively regaining balance after tripping. Next, Lee has been testing wearable sensors outside the lab to determine if they can accurately track movements and record data for researchers. From there, the goal is for the wearable sensors to measure the effectiveness of balance training in the real world — where trips are largely unavoidable and unexpected rather than a lab setting where most of this research has already been done.

Practice makes perfect

Lee’s research focuses on reactive balance, or a person’s ability to respond to a trip and regain balance, and researchers have identified key movements that can make this possible. Lee’s balance training helps participants regain their centers of gravity and strengthen their bodies so recovery after a fall is easier.

Prior research has shown that when people trip, they must do three things to prevent a fall:

  • Quickly control the motion of their torso and try to avoid leaning forward.
  • Take quick steps to get their feet in front of the center of their body and continue stepping forward.
  • Ensure their legs don't collapse by maintaining adequate hip height.

The balance training allows participants to safely and repeatedly practice these movements in a controlled manner. Over the course of three weeks, Lee and other graduate students meet with participants twice per week to go through  progressive stepping exercises that mimic the movements necessary to regain footing during a fall. Once participants are comfortable stepping, the training extends to balancing the upper body and learning to balance the torso.

At the end of their training program, participants harness up and test their balance recovery skills in the lab.

“Youngjae’s research is allowing people to practice these movements over and over in a safe, controlled environment,” Madigan said. “We’re able to put people in body postures similar to what they would experience if they tripped and then allow them to practice these critical movements that we, and others, have identified as the movements you need to complete to recover your balance. As much as we can, we try to simulate a real trip and let participants practice how they would respond to it.”

In addition to the balance training, participants wear the sensors that record body movements on their shoes and underneath their clothing outside the lab for three weeks after training. Lee checks the wearable sensors weekly to ensure they’re working properly and collecting data. Participants also use voice recorders to describe any incidents of trips and falls and subsequent response.

“The data from the wearable sensors shows us if there are any differences in responses to slips and trips from people who have completed the training,” Lee said. “Not only could these sensors provide meaningful data, they are also less expensive and require less setup time than similar testing in a lab.”

Lee plans to conclude research this summer and defend his dissertation at the end of the year. Pending results, researchers hope to partner with organizations and recruit even more participants to continue learning about mitigating trip-induced falls. Eventually, the goal is for balance training to occur in spaces widely used by older adults, such as retirement communities and senior centers.

To recruit participants for the study, Lee and Madigan partnered with Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, the Virginia Tech Lifelong Learning Institute, local senior centers in Christiansburg and Blacksburg, and Warm Hearth Village.

This suggests that consistent, biweekly practice over several months is generally effective.

How often should one practice Tai Chi to benefit from the exercise?

While other fall prevention strategies such as reactive balance training and strength conditioning are studied, Tai Chi’s accessibility and low cost make it particularly feasible for community settings and home-based rehabilitation, aligning well with occupational therapy goals during patient transitions from long-term care.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Adherence appears viable as Tai Chi can be performed in group classes or individually, and geriatric clinicians recommend its use as safe and beneficial .

Title:

Content: Many older people are suffering long-term physical effects from cocooning over the last 18 months, a leading geriatrician has warned.

Kirstyn James, who worked in Cork University Hospital (CUH) during the pandemic, said it is “very worrying” that some older people have not yet resumed their normal lives.

“We are seeing more frail older adults during our assessments,” she said.

“We are meeting people who have reported a big change in their mobility. A lot of that is to do with the huge lifestyle changes they have had to make since the pandemic started.”

Dr James said it is apparent that some older people have not resumed any normal activities and continue to lead sheltered lives.

In her experience, older people struggle with getting out of bed or crossing a room, while others have said the walks they can manage outside of the house are shorter than pre-Covid.

A big challenge in older adults is that when you stop exercising or don’t use your muscles, you can have a big difference in your mobility.

"It can be much harder to get back to where you were. It can take a lot longer to recover than the time it took to lose the mobility.”

Many HSE-provided exercises classes for older people have not yet reopened nor have specialist classes in some private gyms, she said.

“It really is a case of use it or lose it when it comes to your mobility.”

There has been a dedicated geriatric team in CUH emergency department during the pandemic, with staff from different areas working together.

“We, as geriatricians, know it is very important to look not just at medical conditions that are important in older age but to try and promote health and wellbeing in older adults,” she said.

“Assessing mobility is one of the ways that we do that.”

The team was the first in Europe to be recognised as having an ‘age-friendly system’ by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Dr James has now published a mobility assessment video in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine

Mobility tests

It includes mobility tests for older people which can alert healthcare staff to problems.

The video, available through the journal’s website and developed at CUH, is also suitable for older people or family members to learn from, said Dr James.

She said that geriatricians can then advise on maybe changing footwear or assessing if medication might be affecting balance.

She recommended that older people consider tai chi or chair-based exercises, even done at home.

“We would like to see a return to those sorts of [group] activities but only when it is safe to do so.”

She urged older people to do as much exercise and socialising as they are comfortable with.

“I think it is difficult to balance trying to protect people from a public health point of view. And then, as geriatricians, we are very concerned about older adults having declining mobility.”

More in this section

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What excercises shall aid in Alzheimer's and dementia prevention?

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Limitations include a relative scarcity of large-scale RCTs focusing solely on Tai Chi, heterogeneity in Tai Chi styles, and variations in study population health status.

Some reviews note that successful fall prevention programs require integration with broader physical, psychological, and social supports .

Title:

Content: SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
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Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Meekes WMA, Leemrijse CJ, Korevaar JC, Stanmore EK, van de Goor LIAM. Clin. Interv. Aging 2022; 17: 885-902.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Dove Press)

DOI

10.2147/CIA.S354911

PMID

35686030

PMCID

PMC9171056

Abstract

PURPOSE: Limited information is available concerning primary care providers' encountered barriers and facilitators when implementing falls prevention and providing interventions in a real-life setting. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators when i) implementing a falls risk assessment strategy at GP practices and among community nurses and ii) providing evidence-based falls prevention interventions in a real-life setting to independently living, frail older people.

METHODS: A researcher's journal was maintained during the implementation of a falls risk assessment strategy, which entailed notes from informal conversations with GPs, practice nurses and community nurses. After implementation, two online focus groups with GPs, practice and community nurses, physio- and exercise therapists were conducted. Data were thematically analyzed.

RESULTS: Data were collected from 32 GPs, 13 practice nurses, eight community nurses, nine physiotherapists, and two exercise therapists. The GPs and nurses acknowledged that falls prevention is part of their job, meaningful, and that they have sufficient knowledge and skills to offer falls prevention. Collaboration, a previously implemented care program for older people, resources, reimbursement for interventions, and patients' motivation, awareness and health issues were considered to be important factors for the implementation of falls prevention. Physio- and exercise therapists described collaboration with different disciplines, receiving sufficient referrals, reimbursements, intensity and set-up of the interventions, and patients' motivation, expectations, goals, self-confidence, awareness, and health issues as important factors when providing falls prevention interventions.

CONCLUSION: This study identified care provider-, context-, patient-, and innovation (strategy)-related barriers and facilitators when implementing falls prevention and providing interventions in primary care. Development of a more successful implementation strategy should focus on intensifying collaboration, reimbursement for interventions, availability of resources, and patients' lack of motivation and health issues. Hence, falls prevention may become more structurally applied, reducing a major threat for the quality of life of independently living older people.

Language: en

Keywords

implementation; barriers and facilitators; falls prevention; frail older people; primary care

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Print

However, current evidence supports Tai Chi as an effective component of multifactorial fall prevention strategies.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

In conclusion, the clinical evidence supports Tai Chi as an effective intervention to improve balance, mobility, and reduce fall risk among older adults.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice?

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.

Regular practice—generally 1-hour sessions twice weekly over several months—is associated with measurable benefits.

How often should one practice Tai Chi to benefit from the exercise?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

What health advantages have been linked to regular practice of Tai Chi?

For occupational therapists facilitating patient transitions to home, incorporating Tai Chi into rehab programs is advisable to enhance physical stability and promote independence.

For which group is Tai Chi beneficial to?

It is very helpful for anyone looking to improve their stability.

What are some of the health benefit of Tai Chi according to Harvard Health?

What benefits does Tai Chi haves for healthy aging?

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like stability.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like balance.

It helps to improve factors linked to a longer life like mobility.

What did some studies show about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It limits the danger of falls among the elderly.

It improves the balance of older people.

What do orthopedic specialists say about the benefits of learning Tai Chi?

Excercises like the horse stance in Tai Chi that can help prevent falls.

What have studies shown about Tai Chi's health benefit?

It can effectively improve the movement symptoms that may cause falls of elderly patients.

Why did the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention advise elderly people to practice Tai Chi?

Because it can prevent falls that may result in fracture.