Caring for Your Parents: Preventing Falls ANCHORAGE - Falls are
one of the most common injuries for the elderly, and sometimes
the injuries sustained from a fall can be quite serious. At
Serendipity, an adult day center run by the Salvation Army for
people with dementia, exercise is an important part of the daily
activities. But pretty soon, the exercises will change.
Serendipity is teaming up with the University of Alaska and the
University of Washington to be part of a pilot program to see if
a specific set of exercises can prevent falls. “While all
exercise is positive, not all exercise programs are going to get
you the same results,” said UAA researcher Diane King. “What’s
nice about this is that there is some research behind it.” King
said a first step will be training instructors at Serendipity
how to teach the exercises. The program itself will probably
start sometime in March and funding is set to run for the next
two years. In Alaska, icy conditions mean that falls are a big
concern for just about ev