Lee Hannah, researcher for the Center for the Study of Aging, has received an additional $54,905 in funding from the Physical Activity and Nutrition Program at the Idaho Department of Healthand Welfare to evaluate the Idaho-developed Fit and Fall Proof Program. Hannah has received an annual $8,000 contract to evaluate the program since 2012. The goal of the evaluation is to produce evidence-based results about the outcomes of the thirty week program.
The program is an exercise-based fall prevention program for older adults in Idaho that focuses on functional exercises that reduce an older adults’ risk of falling. Fit and Fall Proof has been offered in Idaho communities for 10 years and has expanded to include 105 sites statewide. Funded by the federal government, the money flows through to state and local health districts to train new instructors and keep current class instructors up-to-date on the most current exercise science and fitness information.
Hannah, along with Sarah Toevs, director of the Center for the Study of Aging, and Michelle Arnett, a graduate student in the Master of Health Science program, will be collecting information about the physical, social, and emotional impacts of the program on new participants.