From: Kathleen Lee - Injury Prevention Coordinator
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2019 8:07 AM
To: Me
Subject: [DeptInfo] Stepping On Fall Prevention Program
Stepping On
Building confidence, reducing falls
Please join us for this 7-week workshop series to learn important exercises and strategies to prevent falls.
What is Stepping On?
Stepping On is a program that has been researched and proven to reduce falls in older people. It consists of a workshop that meets for two hours a week for seven weeks.
Workshops are led by two trained Stepping On professionals who partner to provide participants with a quality adult learning environment. In addition, local guest experts provide information on exercise, vision, safety, and medications. Topics include:
Simple and fun balance and strength training
* The role vision plays in keeping your balance
* How medications can contribute to falls
* Ways to keep from falling when out in your community
* What to look for in safe footwear
* How to eliminate fall hazards from your home
This workshop, which is co-sponsored by University of Iowa Health Care and the Visiting Nurse Association, will be held at the Visiting Nurse Association building,1524 Sycamore St, Iowa City, IA 52240
There is a morning class and an afternoon class:
To register for the morning class held on Thursday mornings, Sept. 19th- Oct. 31st
Time:9:30 am - 11:30 am, please visit:
https://ezregister.com/events/29620/
call 319-337-9686 ext. 1100
To register for the afternoon class held on Thursday afternoons, Sept. 19th- Oct. 31st
Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, please visit:
https://ezregister.com/events/29619/
call 319-337-9686 ext. 1100
Registration fee: $30
(covers costs of exercise manual, handouts, snacks, and rental of weights)
*Limited partial scholarships available if needed
Which prompted this response:
Kathleen,
Thank you for having this program as I know from personal experience the impact a fall can have on older people!
You see, on Sunday, July 28th, my mother-in-law went on a bus trip to Milwaukee to see her beloved Chicago Cubs with my father-in-law, my son, and my son’s girlfriend. They live in Balltown, which is a town with two streets, a stop sign, a feed store, a church, and the oldest restaurant in Iowa (Breitbach’s). When the 4 of them returned to their house, it was around 11:30 PM. For some reason, my mother-in-law decided she should show my son and his girlfriend the lights on their back deck. She wanted to adjust a light but had to be on the ground to do so she reached for the railing to go down the steps. Unfortunately, she misjudged where the railing was when she reached out her hand and lost her balance, tumbling down the 4 steps. Right away, she knew that something was wrong. She instructed my son to sit her upright because she couldn’t catch her breath despite my son telling her that he knew that he shouldn’t move her because she may do further damage. She insisted, though, and when he sat her up, she could catch her breath – she now says that if my son wouldn’t have sat her up, she would have died! - and then instructed my son to call 911 because they needed an ambulance. She also was very insistent that the ambulance not turn on their lights or siren because she didn’t want anyone to wake up due to her. After the ambulance was on its way, the next task was to have my son pound on the locked basement bathroom door to interrupt my father-in-law’s shower – he wears hearing aids – and tell him what had happened. This shook up my 83 year-old father-in-law who couldn’t immediately comprehend what my son was telling him. After my mother-in-law was loaded on the ambulance, my son’s girlfriend drove from their house the 25 minutes to Dubuque because both my father-in-law and son were shook up by all of this. I commend her for doing that as I have been driven with my father-in-law on countless non-stressful trips and have had to bite my tongue many times and to have her drive him in a stressful situation? Wow, my son needs to keep her around! (They have been dating for just under 2 years and they are both students at UNI).
My mother-in-law has had a rough couple of years, but she continues to fight as she recovers. In 2017, she went through having all of her teeth being extracted to prepare for the fight against cancer in her jaw, which was officially diagnosed on my birthday on 12/4/17. Then, in 2018, she began her fight against cancer, going through radiation and chemo treatments. My in-laws lived with my wife and I in North Liberty during her treatments at UIHC. Her final cancer treatment was around Easter 2018. With those in the past, we went on a family vacation - my wife, son, and daughter - to New York. When we were in New York City, we went to the studio where “Good Morning America” is taped with our “Go Team Jean!” cardboard signs. Robin Roberts saw our sign and, one thing led to another, until we were face-timing my in-laws with Robin and Michael Stratham. My father-in-law said that Robin and Michael “looked familiar” to him. <hee hee> Then, we were brought into the studio where we were on live TV – my 1 minute of fame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c45YP3q3m74!
Fast forward to this week and she has been busy! Despite being in a lot of pain from the broken ribs she suffered, she continues to fight and be feisty. On Monday, 8/19, she had a checkup scan which was negative for cancer. She has been going to UIHC every 3 months for appointments and she was told that after her next appointment in December, she will only need to come in every 6 months.
Back to the purpose of your email, I am really happy that you are putting on this program to help reduce falls in older people. I hope it is a very successful program!
Sincerely,
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