Community ambulation training programme to enhance safe outdoor ambulation in the elderly

• Published in: Asian journal of gerontology and geriatrics 2017-06, Vol.12 (1), p.30-30
• Main Authors: Man, Cathy Y Y, Cheung, Rachel P M, Poon, Priscilla Y H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Older people
• ISSN: 1819-1576; 1819-1576

Introduction: The ability of outdoor ambulation is crucial for active ageing. A community ambulation training facility was set up at Tuen Mun Hospital. It provides an elderly-friendly environment to practise outdoor mobility with mud, brisk, and concrete path, kerb, stair, ramp, travellator, and road crossing with traffic light management. Purposes: To maximise the ability of the elderly in outdoor ambulation and educate the importance of road safety. Methods: Elderly people with premorbid status as outdoor walker who received rehabilitation at the geriatric day hospital were recruited in a training programme by physiotherapists. The programme consisted of 4 one-hour sessions. The elderly judged their performance and level of dependence (independent, supervision, or assistance) before walking in the training room. The time to complete a whole circuit was recorded. The number of items that were correctly judged by the elderly was determined by physiotherapists, as were time and accuracy score (for the level of dependence) before and after the programme. Results: In 2015, 36 subjects were recruited with a mean age of 68.2±10.3 years. 60% of them had cerebral vascular disease, 15% had fracture hips, and the reminding 15% had other diseases. The time to complete the whole circuit improved from 93.2 to 73.6 seconds after training (p