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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Evaluation of a long-term water exercise program for the elderly
— focusing on balance | | Author(s) | Susan Josephson, Diane Josephson, Jennifer Nitz |
| Journal title | Australasian Journal on Ageing, vol 20, no 3, September 2001 |
| Pages | pp 147-152 |
| Keywords | Exercise ; Physiotherapy ; Mobility ; Evaluation ; Australia. |
| Annotation | Postural control and balance are important to the upkeep of normal physical functioning in older people, and may be maintained or improved by long-term water exercise classes. It was hypothesised that a hydrotherapy exercise once a week would be shown to positively effect measures of balance, postural control, functional mobility and flexibility in the exercising group when compared to a non-exercising group. Two groups, 19 in each (age range 70 to 92), were assigned either to undertake water exercise sessions run by a physiotherapist in a heated pool for one hour a week for a minimum of 12 months, or to no form of exercise other than normal activities of daily living (ADLs). The water exercise group performed significantly better on all four tests: functional reach with left and right arms; functional step testing using left and right leg; the timed "up and go"; and right and left ankle dorsiflexion range. The results strongly support the theory that long-term water exercise classes do positively affect a person's flexibility, mobility and ability to maintain postural control. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020228206 A |
| Classmark | CEA: LOA: C4: 4C: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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