Exercise technology - part of future fall prevention?

Abstract

Background: Can exercise technology be part of a future fall prevention effort? Two technologies for fall prevention were tested on elderly persons with risk of falling. An exercise web application was tested on a training program for fall prevention in Tromsø and a Kinect exergame was tested on a day centre in Alta. Material and method: In Tromsø we used questionnaire observations and telephone interviews with elderly who tried the technology at home. In Alta observations were used as method. The technology was developed in a user-centred approach with physiotherapists, elderly and ICT researchers. Findings: The exercise web application received good feedback from professionals and elderly users, but observations demonstrated that elderly should get individual instructions from a physiotherapist, particularly for home use. Such a web app should also have the possibilities for individual adaptations. Elderly who tested the web app at home were still using it after three months. The exergame that was tested was too demanding both for the physiotherapists and the elderly. It is also too space demanding. Conclusion: A simple exercise web application can work as an alternative to a printed training programme for homebased training, while a Kinect exergame is too demanding.

Keywords

• Technology
• exercise
• fall accident
• prevention