Grant Helps Saint Joseph Village Improve Balance Program
By Brian Howells
Mrs. Lou Beck peered nervously at the new piece of equipment in the wellness center. "That doesn't look like something that I could use," she said to her physical therapist. "It looks unsafe." She had begrudgingly taken her wheeled walker and traversed from her assisted living apartment in Saint Joseph Village (SJV), where she resides with her husband Bill, down the hallway to the wellness center at SJV where a new piece of exercise equipment was waiting for her to try.
The maiden voyage on the new Rebounder was ready to be taken by Mrs. Beck as she surveyed the new piece of equipment. She knew that she needed to improve her balance to ensure that she would not suffer a potentially devastating fall, but was unsure that she would be able to use this new contraption. The Rebounder, a new piece of balance equipment at the Saint Joseph Village, was purchased with grant money given by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation.
She cautiously put down her walker and stepped up onto the unsteady, springy surface and began to work on the balance activities as directed by her therapist. She soon found herself enjoying the exercise routine of marching, squatting, and kicking and was upset when the therapist told her that she needed to step off the Rebounder. "I was just starting to enjoy that," she chuckled.
Then the therapist showed the versatility of the new Rebounder transforming it from a trampoline-type device on the floor into a backstop at a 60-degree angle. Bewildered and intrigued, Mrs. Beck was anxiously awaiting what could be done next with this machine. When the therapist brought over a two-pound medicine ball and told her to throw the ball off the Rebounder and then catch it, she was not sure whether to be excited or terrified.
Yet, she showed her mettle and was able to toss the heavy ball off the backstop and catch it several times, to the delight and cheers of the other residents of SJV, who, by this time, had joined her in the Wellness Center for their own chance at trying out the new machine. They would have to wait their turn, however, because Mrs. Beck was getting the hang of the new Rebounder.
This is a piece of equipment that has been utilized by the residents of SJV healthcare rooms, assisted living apartments, independent living housing and short-term stay patients as part of the balance and fall prevention program at SJV. This program is a multi-disciplinary, team approach to preventing falls among the residents and has led to several success stories, including Mrs. Beck.
-- Brian Howells
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