Tripping Seniors on Purpose to Stop Future Falls
From: Medical Design Technology - 08/28/2014

Researchers are tripping seniors on purpose, and it's not some kind of warped
practical joke.

The experiment is among techniques being studied to prevent falls, the
leading cause of injury in older adults. Falls in the elderly cost $30
billion yearly to treat and can send them spiraling into poor health and
disability.

Conventional efforts to prevent falls include exercises to boost strength and
balance, but researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago are trying
a completely different approach. It's based on promising, preliminary results
with a lab-built walkway that causes people to unexpectedly trip, as if
stepping on a banana peel.

Now the same scientists are testing a similar approach with computerized
treadmills. If it works, they envision specially designed treadmills in
doctors' offices, clinics and physical therapy centers for training people
how to avoid falling.

Clive Pai ('Pye'), a physical therapy professor leading the research, calls
the method a potential "vaccine against falls."

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/08/tripping-seniors-purpose-stop-future-falls

Links:
Have a Nice Trip? See you Next Fall!
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/08/photos-day-have-nice-trip-see-you-next-fall

Clive Pai
http://www.uic.edu/ahs/cgmal/person/Pai.htm