Pilot Project Begins at Whiddon Aged Care, Laurieton

The teams involved in a 3-month pilot at Whiddon Aged Care, Laurieton, NSW kicked off a balance testing and training project on Thursday 7 May 2026 and introduced participating residents to the Therapeutic Balance Mat.

Dr Jennie Hewitt, Whiddon’s General Manager, Clinical Research and Reablement, wanted a technology that could not only assess residents’ balance – because there are already techniques and technologies that can do that – but one that could be used as a therapy tool too as an addition to her SUNBEAM physiotherapy program.

She is pictured above (second from left) with (l t r): Ian Bergman, Co-Owner Balance Metrix Pty Ltd; Emmalita Abrenica, Field Manager / Physiotherapist, Jasda Care; Lisa Stedman, Physical Therapy Assistant, Whiddon; and Balance Metrix staff members Candice Bevan AEP, Margaret Metz, Co-Owner / Business Manager and Raelee Pietrzak, Assistant Manager.

New Therapeutic Balance Mat

“This is the first time our new Therapeutic Balance Mat will be used at a residential aged care home in a formally constituted pilot project,” Balance Metrix Pty Ltd Director Ian Bergman said.

“Under Dr Jennie Hewitt’s leadership our Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Candice Bevan, Balance Mat Pty Ltd IT Intern Bipin Shrestha and I will attend the home once a week for 12 weeks. We will be working with a Jasda Care Physiotherapist and Whiddon trained Therapy Assistant to collaboratively test, record and train residents’ balance in the Exercise4Life Gymnasium.”

“In a fun approach to data deidentification, the aged care residents who’ve signed up have chosen their own code names: The Spider, Mary-Jane, Summer, Slippery, Trouble, Lightning, Daya, Doris, Sausage, Isis and Spicy. This bodes well for our technology, because it shows that people are already engaged.”

The project will involve biofeedback on the Balance Mat during supervised static balance exercises.

Dr Jennie Hewitt with Team Balance Members Candice Bevan AEP and Ian Bergman inside the Exercise4Life Gymnasium at Whiddon Aged Care Home at Laurieton on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Ian and Candice will both attend for one morning per week.

Individualised balance exercise

The intervention will comprise individualised balance exercise based on postural sway assessment at baseline and throughout the project to address each participant’s balance priority.

Balance priorities will be determined by the team, drawing on Balance Mat results in the normal and semi-tandem (right-foot-forward, left-foot-forward) stances plus routinely collected Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) balance testing data.

At the conclusion of the pilot, staff and residents will be asked for feedback on the Therapeutic Balance Mat for assessment and intervention.

Any changes in postural sway scores before and after the intervention will be assessed via the Therapeutic Balance Mat and the SPPB balance tests.

Finally, the clinical applicability of the postural sway measurement scores will be assessed by comparison with falls incidents for participating residents, mapped to their identified risk.

A word from Candice Bevan AEP

Candice is thrilled to be working with Jennie, saying: “I’d read about the 55% fall reduction Dr Jennie Hewitt achieved during her PhD when she “invented” the Sunbeam protocol that’s widely used in residential aged care. To meet and have the opportunity to work with her now using the Therapeutic Balance Mat has blown my mind!”

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