What Is It?

Many older adults experience a fear of falling. People who develop this fear often limit their activities, which can result in physical weakness, making the risk of falling even greater. A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls is a program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults.

A Matter of Balance includes eight two-hour sessions for a small group led by a trained facilitator. This nationally recognized program was developed at the Roybal Center at Boston University.

Who should attend A Matter of Balance Program?

The program was designed to benefit community-dwelling older adults who:

Are concerned about falls
Have sustained falls in the past
Restrict activities because of concerns about falling
Are interested in improving flexibility, balance and strength
Are age 60 or older, ambulatory and able to problem solve

What are the components of A Matter of Balance?

A Matter of Balance is a structured group intervention that utilizes a variety of activities to address physical, social and cognitive factors affecting fear of falling and to teach fall prevention strategies. The activities include group discussion, problem-solving, skill building, assertiveness training, videotapes, sharing practical solutions and exercise training.

During the program, participants learn to:

View falls and fear of falling as controllable (involves changing behavior with a focus on building falls self-efficacy, i.e., the belief that one can engage in an activity without falling).
Set realistic goals for increasing activity (by instilling adaptive beliefs such as greater perceived control, greater confidence in one’s abilities and more realistic assessment of failures).
Change their environment to reduce fall risk factors (uses a home safety evaluation and action planner to reduce fall risk hazards in the home and community).
Promote exercise to increase strength and balance.

Each of the eight sessions is two hours in length, including a break for light refreshments. Early sessions focus on changing attitudes and self-efficacy before attempting changes in actual behavior. The exercise component, which begins in the third session, takes about 30 minutes of the session to complete.