Course Description:

The Prevention and Wellness Toolkit provides the rehabilitation specialist with three valuable resources: a manual on how to conduct a prevention and wellness screening with follow-up exercise classes, a guide on individualized balance assessment and treatment, and a toolbox of tests, scales and measures for wholistic evaluation of the older adult. This course is geared towards the rehabilitation specialist who understands the critical need for wellness interventions in the older adult population and wants to bring their skills to the next level for optimal prevention.
The purpose of the this course is to provide the clinician with the tools needed to go into a community setting, such as a senior center or assisted living facility, and confidently approach the administration with a well-developed plan for a community-based program. Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of how to screen the older adult in critical domains of fitness, using an evidenced-based paradigm for screening, and will be able to interpret findings based on current normative data. This information may then be utilized to conduct follow-up group classes described in detail in the manual, complete with teaching scripts and handouts.
As fall prevention and optimal balance are key components of wellness in the older adult, this course provides the participant with functional balance tests along with detailed interpretations for each test item. Multiple treatment interventions are described in detail based on the specific deficits noted in functional tests. In addition, a toolbox of over twenty additional evidence-based tests is provided to allow the clinician to further assess each client as indicated in important areas such as self-efficacy, quality of life, and psychosocial domains.
After completion of the class, participants will be able to readily utilize efficient, comprehensive, evidence-based screening and testing methods, and implement both group and individualized interventions to promote wellness, a vital need in our growing older adult population.