Effects of a physical therapy program based on clint-centered approach on functional balance in the elderly

Abstract

Falls are an important cause of death for adults aged 65 years and above.  Most preventive strategy studies of falls have involved exercises to promote strength and balance. However, these exercise programs were designed by therapists without the elderly’s participation in designing the programs. The objective of this research was to study effects of physical therapy program with client-centered approach on functional balance (Berg Balance Scale and Timed Up and Go Test) in the elderly. A 12-week study was conducted in 9 elders with fall risks (2 men and 7 women, mean age 77.4 ± 5.8 years) of Samliam 1 community, Khon Kaen Province. During the first 4 weeks, specific problems relating to functional balance of each subject were assessed and discussed between the subject and the investigator, after which a physical therapy program with client-centered approach to improve functional balance was cooperatively designed and individually tailored to each elder. The subject was then instructed to perform the program for 8 weeks. The subject’s functional balance was assessed at baseline and every 4 weeks until the end of the study, and was analyzed using paired t-test. It was found that the physical therapy program with client-centered approach significantly improved the Berg Balance Scale (P < 0.05). However, it was observed that changes in the functional balance scores were frequently influenced by pain at any body part of the subjects but the present study program did not pay much attention on the issue of pain. Therefore, it is suggested that to improve older people’ balance, therapists should widen their approaches to cover other factors relating to balance as much as possible.