Join us in our Better Balance Initiative!
The Better Balance Initiative combines Balance Mat and other test data with expert-led exercise classes. Its aim is to improve seniors’ balance ability and reduce the incidence of preventable falls.
Our allied health partners
Our allied health partners are accredited exercise physiologists Charlie Gordon from Exercise Therapies and Jo MacAllan from MacAllan Health, and consultant physiotherapists Saili Deodhar and Nitish Mathew from Highland Physios.
Altogether, we are aiming to have 10 allied health partners testing and training balance in 10 different aged care, retirement village, home care or community settings across Australia.
Charlie recently completed a 10-week balance testing & training project at Bolton Clarke The Terraces, Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast. To learn more, read our blog.
Charlie Gordon
Jo MacAllan
Saili Deodhar
Nitish Mathew
Balance Mat case study – Garden Village, Port Macquarie
Pictured above is 93-year-old William Tyrell from Garden Village at Port Macquarie. Bill is happy for Balance Metrix to share his image and postural sway data to help us promote Balance Mat technology.
Bill’s test results in the normal stance are shown in the first graph below as a fairly straight line with a couple of blips. His score for that stance is 0.15. In the semi-tandem stance his results are displayed as a consistently spiky line and his score is 1.21.
The test results scale on the Balance Mat are: Low: Zero to 0.30; Medium: 0.31 to 1.00; and High: 1.01 and above, so this puts Bill into the high falls risk category. This was not unexpected given his ripe old age and the fact that he has experienced several falls unfortunately.
Exercise prescription + technology + data = better balance for older people
The Balance Mat is an Australian invention that has been developed in Canberra by Balance Mat Pty Ltd and approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as a Class 1 medical device. It is a lightweight and portable computerised floor mat that connects to a laptop and saves people’s postural sway graphs and scores online in the Balance Mat test results system for comparison over time. Results can be downloaded, saved and emailed to the people tested, their healthcare providers and residential aged care service providers.
The graph below illustrates the low, medium and high postural sway results of 232 people (equating to low, medium and high falls risk) – shown as green, amber and red – who had their balance tested on the Balance Mat between June and November 2024. This distribution holds true for different groups from different populations in around 1,500 tests that have been conducted on the Balance Mat to date.
What does the Initiative entail?
Part 1: Group Balance Testing
This is a health-check and balance testing clinic run by our allied health partner to screen participants for their suitability to progress to the second part of the Initiative. Those in the “medium” category are offered a place in Part 2 of the Initiative, while those in the low and high categories are offered individualised therapy by the practitioner.
Part 2: Group Balance Training
This is a 10-week strength and balance exercise course conducted by the allied health practitioner, with balance metrics data from the Balance Mat and other standard tests used during pre- and post-screening. These tests enable the clinician and residential aged care or ageing services provider gauge how well the exercise intervention is progressing and deploy resources most effectively.
Why do we need this?
Falls are a common problem for older people due to the neurological, skeletal and visual disorders that often affect them. The Better Balance Initiative will put participants’ minds at ease because they will discover their falls risk and be able to undertake a structured and enjoyable exercise course that will enhance their confidence in safely performing the activities of daily life or receive individualised allied health attention. For providers, they will have some comparative balance metrics to use for quantifying success and managing falls risk.
