Grant: Undergraduate: Mobility, musculoskeletal health and arthritis - ICS

Over an individual's life span, many factors contribute towards increased health concerns and other associated risks. One major risk many older individuals experience is an increase in balance and coordination problems. These problems affect the individual's ability to safely walk through an environment without falling. Falls may cause an individual to reduce the amount of time spent walking in efforts to reduce the likelihood of another fall. The objective of the proposed project is to improve balance control (i.e. stability) during walking using a stationary balance training protocol. Stability during locomotion is imperative for individuals to function independently through activities of daily living such as walking from one location in their houses to another, climbing stairs or walking from their homes to a location outside the home (i.e. car, garden, etc.). The stationary balance training protocol that the participants in the proposed study will use is a slalom skiing game that is part of the Nintendo Wii Fit system. The balance board on the system allows individuals to move a character, representing themselves, on a screen by shifting their body weight in the desired direction of movement. Participants will perform two-half hour training sessions per week over a 12-week period. This training protocol will continuously challenge the participants' balance by completing the next stage of the game as they progress. After the 12-week training period, we hope that the participants will have improved balance during locomotion as well as increased confidence. Baseline balance measures will be quantitatively assessed prior to the initiation of the 12-week training period as well as at the end of the training period to determine the change in balance.