About this Research Topic
Balance control is a complex process that is vulnerable to the effects of aging and cognitive decline, not to mention the impact of various neurological factors such as Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia (LBD), and Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which cause different symptoms based on the parts of the brain they affect.
Falls are, therefore, a syndemia that coexists with multiple comorbidities including stroke, mild cognitive impairment, vestibular disorders, long covid-19, and many more.
According to a recent systematic review, both static and dynamic (ambulatory) balance is impaired in individuals with MCI and these impairments are aggravated under cognitive challenge, such as when the affected individual is multitasking, which commonly occurs in everyday life. Impaired balance and dizziness have consistently been identified as a risk factors for falls, which has a negative influence on quality of life, with wide ranging physical, psychosocial and healthcare-related consequences. Multimodal, multifaceted falls prevention programmes targeting specific needs of high risk individuals are thus of essence (Eurosafe 20).
However, there is either a lack/limited access to falls specialist services within Europe; lack of integrated clinician education; paucity of well-trained clinicians to provide required individualised falls assessment and care. This is particularly crucial given the neurological complexities of conditions like Parkinson’s, LDB, and FTD. Patient adherence to existing exercise programmes is poor with 70% dropping out early. Balance physiotherapy is the key intervention for falls prevention, and it is thus imperative to develop comprehensive, individualized multifactorial balance rehabilitation programs.
Technology based solutions can help address many of these issues, increasing accessibility, adherence, while providing wider and easier (home-based) access to high quality falls services and interventions. In doing so, the ultimate aim is to improve patient care through multifactorial balance assessment and rehabilitation, reducing falls in older adults and their associated healthcare costs.
This Research Topic aims to collect research looking at reducing falls in older adults, through comprehensive balance assessments and/or multifactorial balance rehabilitation. We encourage research into the neurocognitive risk factors, and ways in which these might be mitigated, including, but not limited to, components such as cognitive training and/or dual-task training. We are also interested in how this can be addressed using technology based solutions, such as telerehabilitation and augmented reality.
Falls are, therefore, a syndemia that coexists with multiple comorbidities including stroke, mild cognitive impairment, vestibular disorders, long covid-19, and many more.
According to a recent systematic review, both static and dynamic (ambulatory) balance is impaired in individuals with MCI and these impairments are aggravated under cognitive challenge, such as when the affected individual is multitasking, which commonly occurs in everyday life. Impaired balance and dizziness have consistently been identified as a risk factors for falls, which has a negative influence on quality of life, with wide ranging physical, psychosocial and healthcare-related consequences. Multimodal, multifaceted falls prevention programmes targeting specific needs of high risk individuals are thus of essence (Eurosafe 20).
However, there is either a lack/limited access to falls specialist services within Europe; lack of integrated clinician education; paucity of well-trained clinicians to provide required individualised falls assessment and care. This is particularly crucial given the neurological complexities of conditions like Parkinson’s, LDB, and FTD. Patient adherence to existing exercise programmes is poor with 70% dropping out early. Balance physiotherapy is the key intervention for falls prevention, and it is thus imperative to develop comprehensive, individualized multifactorial balance rehabilitation programs.
Technology based solutions can help address many of these issues, increasing accessibility, adherence, while providing wider and easier (home-based) access to high quality falls services and interventions. In doing so, the ultimate aim is to improve patient care through multifactorial balance assessment and rehabilitation, reducing falls in older adults and their associated healthcare costs.
This Research Topic aims to collect research looking at reducing falls in older adults, through comprehensive balance assessments and/or multifactorial balance rehabilitation. We encourage research into the neurocognitive risk factors, and ways in which these might be mitigated, including, but not limited to, components such as cognitive training and/or dual-task training. We are also interested in how this can be addressed using technology based solutions, such as telerehabilitation and augmented reality.
Keywords: balance, assessment, rehabilitation, multifactorial, falls, vestibular, Parkinson's Disease, Dementia, Cognitive Decline, LBD, FTD, MCI
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