Project

The main goal of the project is to promote the role of senior leaders from the University of the Third Age (educators, retired PE teachers and trainers and all those interested in adult education) in the education of students of the University of the Third Age, as well as to create new solutions for conducting physical activities to prevent falls in older people.

The problems and needs of the rapidly growing population of people of post-working age require greater and systemic support from universities. Falls are a major geriatric problem and, according to WHO, they are the second cause of injuries after car accidents and the second leading cause of injuries leading to death. They affect 25-40% of people over the age of 65, and after the age of 80, every second person experiences a fall once a year.

Falls have serious consequences:

1. traumatic: fracture, extensive contusions, subdural hematomas, burns,
2. related to immobilization: hypothermia, dehydration, infections, bedsores, joint contractures,
3. mental: a person who has experienced the so-called post-fall syndrome, is afraid that she may fall again, so she limits her daily activity and stops leaving home, as a result her overall fitness decreases and thus the risk of functional dependence increases,
4. increasing the risk of institutionalization of an elderly person,
5. generate medical care costs.

Education of seniors regarding fall prevention will include participation in the process of creating the manual "Exercise and maintain balance and you will be able to do more". Seniors will take part in a 12-week training using juggling exercises, they will present exercises and participate in a photo session and video recordings (which will be attached to the manual in the form of a QR code) to illustrate the exercises (a consent to sharing the image will be signed with all those presenting the exercises).  The purposeful use of digital technology is planned, which will contribute to making the education process more attractive and improve the competences of leaders in the process of documentation and creation of publications and teaching sheets. The experiences and constructive observations of senior leaders while learning to juggle will be taken into account and may be recorded in the manual as tips for practice.

The goal will be achieved by preparing a manual containing a training program that will serve as a compendium of knowledge needed to conduct exercise workshops and theoretical classes providing the most important information on the prevention of falls among seniors through exercises focused on improving coordination to prevent falls.

The innovation of the designed training (new methods in line with the intended topic) consists in the use of preparatory exercises for juggling, the purpose of which is to improve motor and visual coordination, activate the cerebellum to perform increasingly precise movements, increase concentration, synchronize the right and left sides of the brain, increase brain activity, improving memory and mood, which in turn will allow to prevents falls.

Juggling preparatory exercises and juggling require precise and coordinated movements, which can improve motor coordination and, as a result, improve balance. Together, these factors can help improve balance in people who exercise regularly.

Thanks to the training, which will include learning how to conduct classes using preparatory exercises for juggling, it will be possible to perform spatially and temporally complex movements, enabling quick switching from one movement task to another, as well as solving new, unexpected movement situations related to maintaining balance and requiring reaction speed, which will ultimately allow us to develop a training model aimed at preventing falls.

In April 2022, a pilot study was carried out in a group of people over 60 years of age, students of the UTW in Katowice, who voluntarily reported their willingness to participate in physical activities using preparatory exercises for juggling. It was a group of 23 people who participated in instructional classes and performed preparatory exercises for juggling over the course of three weeks. Two tests using the Vienna test were performed to check the reaction speed, before starting the exercises and after three weeks, in a group of 23 exercisers and in a control group of 18 older people. The research results indicate a significant improvement in reaction speed in people who performed preparatory exercises for juggling every day.

Our experience is also based on observation and collected opinions on the exercises used, and the test result was additional information for the beneficiaries to verify the results of their own work and commitment. The enthusiasm of older people performing exercises and research results encouraged us to spread the training among seniors.