Falls are a major public health problem among Americans age 65 and older. Falls in older adults are, however, preventable and can be reduced through exercise. Mounting evidence suggests that exercise interventions that strengthen muscles and improve balance are a safe and effective non-pharmacological program for reducing falls. A significant gap exists in terms of the best strategies available and most effective use of resources for prescribing home-based fall prevention exercise programs.

Fuzhong Li, Ph.D., and colleagues are developing and refining an online (virtual) at-home delivery strategy to enhance intervention accessibility across communities and geographic regions. They are evaluating a home-based falls prevention exercise intervention, called the Virtual Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance (V-TJQMBB), with a home-based  Virtual Multimodal (V-Multimodal) exercise. The goal is to lower the incidence of falls and improved dual-task performance among at-risk older adults. All intervention classes will be delivered, via videoconferencing, at participants’ home.