Fall Prevention in Cognitively Impaired Older Veterans Through Neurophysiological Rehabilitation
VA Office of Research and Development
Summary
Falls represent the leading cause of hospitalization, nursing home admissions, disability and mortality for older adults with annual healthcare costs over $50 billion. Older Veterans with cognitive impairment are at an increased risk of falls and injurious fall. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of 6 weeks of a virtual tele-neurorehabilitation intervention on fall prevention, functional mobility, strength, cognition and performance of activities of daily living. Participants will be one of 28 participants in the VA Maryland Health Care System. Participation in the study is voluntary and the research will be conducted at the VA Maryland Health Care System. The entire study will take approximately 2 years to complete. Subject's participation in the study will last 3 months.
Description
Falls represent the leading cause of hospitalization, nursing home admissions, disability and mortality for older adults with annual healthcare costs over $50 billion. Older Veterans with cognitive impairment are at an increased risk of falls and injurious fall. This pilot aims to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a virtual neurorehabilitation intervention to improve functional mobility, strength, cognition and performance of activities of daily living in a cohort of 28 older Veterans with cognitive impairment. The overall goals are to improve fall risk in a population for which t…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 65+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * community dwelling * at risk for falls as indicated by answering yes to one of the following: 1) have you fallen in the last year? 2) four square step test time \> 15 seconds 3) are you worried about falling? * cognitive impairment as indicated by either 1) clinical diagnosis 2) MOCA score of 10-25 * able to provide written consent Exclusion Criteria: * MOCA \<10 or clinically diagnosed dementia * inability to participate in a virtual intervention * serious visual or hearing problems * stroke with hemiparesis or severe neurological disease * current use of medications…
Interventions
- BehavioralVirtual Neurophysiological Rehabilitation
Combining active observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI)
Location
- Baltimore VA Medical Center VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, MDBaltimore, Maryland