Grant: Project Grant

The ability to balance and walk is key to doing everyday activities like getting dressed, preparing meals, and getting out of the house to do shopping and social activities. When everyday activities are limited, costly homecare services may be needed, or a family member or friend has to help and has less time to do things important to them. Functional exercise programs that involve practising everyday movements, like standing up and sitting down, stepping, and walking, have been shown to improve balance and walking in people with chronic conditions like stroke, and arthritis. If these programs were widely available in local recreation centres, more people could benefit. We have shown that physical therapists can: 1) train fitness instructors how to teach these programs to people with balance and walking problems; and 2) help keep the program safe and beneficial by visiting classes and giving feedback to instructors. We call this a healthcare-recreation partnership. Functional exercise programs for people with balance and walking problems are more costly to run than usual fitness classes because more instructors are needed to supervise. We need evidence showing these programs help improve everyday function so that we can advocate for financial support. In this study, adults who have balance and walking problems will participate in a 12-week functional group exercise program at a local community centre right away, or six months later. A physical therapist will train the fitness instructors, visit classes, and answer questions by email/phone. We will evaluate the effect of the program on ability to perform everyday activities, quality of life, balance, leg strength, walking, cognition, mood, and caregiver assistance/mental health. Each participant will complete three evaluations: before the exercise program and 3, and 6 months later. Increasing everyday function is expected to support caregivers, and help people live independently in the community for longer.