The University of Sydney -

The Stepping On program offers older people a way of reducing falls and at the same time increasing self confidence in situations where they are at risk of falling. The program incorporates a group setting plus individualized follow-up. It covers a range of issues, including falls and risk, strength and balance exercises, home hazards, safe footwear, vision and falls, safety in public places, community mobility, coping after a fall, and understanding how to initiate a medication review.

This manual is for occupational therapists, physical therapists, and other health professionals and health promotion workers in the area of falls-prevention with older people. The manual describes how to plan, prepare, and run the program.

Stepping On provides:

• A step-by-step guide to running the seven-week (2 hours per week) group program
• Essential background information for understanding the conceptual underpinning of the program, the group process and all the key falls prevention areas
• A guide to useful resources
• Handouts for group participants
• Ideas on recruitment and evaluation.

Stepping On reduced falls by 31% in a randomised trial published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (September 2004).

Handouts in English and other languages are also available as Word docs and PDFs