Teaching Falls: Practical Training for People with Parkinson's Disease & Older

Course overview

This course provides rehabilitation professionals with an evidence-based framework for integrating safe landing strategies into clinical practice. Content includes an overview of the current falls landscape, assessment of individual risk factors, and development of client-specific "falls portfolios." Learners will review research demonstrating that older adults can be taught motor skills for safe landing, with retained benefits over time. Instruction will address teaching backwards, sideways, and forwards falls, with attention to common movement impairments in Parkinson's disease. A significant psychomotor component is included: participants will first practice falls training in all directions as if they were the patient, allowing them to experience the movement demands and safety strategies firsthand. They will then shift into the clinician role, demonstrating the correct psychomotor techniques, guarding, and cueing required to guide clients safely through falls training. To bridge practice with real-world application, older adult volunteers will join for live case study demonstrations. Participants will collaboratively brainstorm, observe, and problem-solve as instructors guide the volunteers through falls training, creating opportunities to see theory and clinical reasoning applied in real time. Additional topics include clinical reasoning for selecting appropriate progressions, environmental considerations, and strategies to enhance client confidence and safety. By the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to apply structured, practical methods for teaching falls training that reduce injury severity and promote independence for older adults and individuals with Parkinson's disease. Primary Instructor: Claire McLean, PT, DPT, NCS, Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, With guest educator, Naomi Casiro, BSc., (Kin), MPT