EF310 Unit 8 Fall Prevention Program Example

Course	EF310 Applied Exercise Science for Healthy Aging and Special Conditions
Unit	Unit 8
Paper type	Fall prevention program
Length	About 760 words, 5 pages double-spaced
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Purdue University Global
Program	BS in Health Science
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for EF310 Unit 8

From the Bedroom to the Bathroom at Night: A Unit 8 Fall Prevention Program for an Eighty-Two-Year-Old Living Alone

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

EF310: Applied Exercise Science for Healthy Aging and Special Conditions

Unit 8 Fall Prevention Program

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The client and her test results are composite; the Cochrane review, the screening toolkit and the position stand cited are real.

What this part is doingStarting from the actual fall tells the grader the program will be built around real risk, not a generic routine.

The Client and the Fall

She is eighty-two, lives by herself, and sleeps upstairs, and reaching the one full bathroom means a walk along an unlit hallway. Last February she got up at night to use the bathroom, felt unsteady in the dark hallway and fell, bruising her hip. She lay on the floor for about twenty minutes before she could get up. She now uses a cane outdoors but not at home. She takes an over-the-counter sleep aid most nights, blood pressure medicine and eye drops for glaucoma.

Baseline Tests

Timed Up and Go: 15 seconds. The CDC's screening toolkit treats 12 seconds or longer as a marker of higher fall risk (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023). Thirty-second chair stand: 7 rises, below the expected range for women her age. Four-stage balance test: feet together and semi-tandem held for 10 seconds each; full tandem held only 4 seconds; single-leg stance not attempted. Being unable to hold tandem stance for 10 seconds indicates increased risk.

What the Results Point To

Weak legs, shown by the chair stand, and poor balance in narrow stances, shown by the tandem test, are both targets exercise can change. Her slow Timed Up and Go reflects both. Her other risks, the sleep aid, possible vision changes and the dark hallway, are not targets exercise can change, and the program must hand them to others.

Exercise Program

The exercise section follows the structure of the Otago program, a home-based strength and balance program designed for older adults and delivered with a small number of visits.

Strength, three times a week: knee extension and knee flexion with ankle cuff weights starting at 1 kilogram, hip abduction standing at a counter, calf raises and toe raises holding the counter, and sit-to-stands from a firm chair, starting with hands and progressing to no hands.

Balance, three times a week: knee bends at the counter, backward walking, sideways walking, tandem stance and then tandem walking with one hand on the counter, single-leg stance with support, heel walking and toe walking. Each exercise starts with support and moves to less support as she masters it.

Walking: a short walk outdoors with her cane three days a week, building from 10 to 30 minutes.

Visits: an exercise professional visits five times over eight weeks to set up and progress the program, then calls monthly.

Exercise can make her legs stronger and her balance steadier, but it cannot light her hallway, change her sleep aid or check her eyes, so the referrals carry equal weight with the exercises.

What this part is doingThe highlighted sentence makes the referrals part of the program rather than an appendix, which is how fall prevention guidance treats them.

Referrals

1. Her physician or pharmacist, to review the sleep aid. Many over-the-counter sleep aids contain sedating antihistamines that impair balance and alertness in older adults.

2. An eye examination, since her last was more than two years ago.

3. An occupational therapist for a home safety visit: night lights from bedroom to bathroom, removal of the hallway rug, grab bars in the bathroom and a phone she can reach from the floor.

4. A personal alarm she can wear, since she lay on the floor for twenty minutes after her fall.

What this part is doingEach referral answers a specific detail of her fall, which shows the program was built from her history rather than a checklist.

Why This Approach

Pooled trials of exercise in older adults living at home show fewer falls among those who exercise, with programs that combine balance and functional exercises showing clear benefit (Sherrington et al., 2019). The position stand on older adults also recommends balance training for those at risk of falling (Chodzko-Zajko et al., 2009).

Progression and Retesting

Ankle weights increase by half a kilogram when she can do two sets of ten with good form. Balance exercises move from two hands, to one hand, to fingertip support, to no support. At eight weeks, repeat all three tests. Her eight-week targets are to finish the Timed Up and Go in less than 12 seconds and to hold tandem stance for the full 10.

Safety

All balance exercises are done at a kitchen counter, never in the middle of a room. She is taught to stop if she feels dizzy, and how to get up from the floor using a sturdy chair, which the visiting professional practices with her on the first visit.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). STEADI: Older adult fall prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/steadi

Chodzko-Zajko, W. J., Proctor, D. N., Fiatarone Singh, M. A., Minson, C. T., Nigg, C. R., Salem, G. J., & Skinner, J. S. (2009). Exercise and physical activity for older adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(7), 1510-1530. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181a0c95c

Sherrington, C., Fairhall, N. J., Wallbank, G. K., Tiedemann, A., Michaleff, Z. A., Howard, K., Clemson, L., Hopewell, S., & Lamb, S. E. (2019). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1), CD012424. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2

EF310 Unit 8 instructions, in plain terms

The eighth unit usually asks for a fall prevention program for an older client, combining assessment, an exercise plan and attention to other risk factors. Expect several pages. Marks reward baseline tests with interpretation, exercises targeting the deficits found, progression and safety measures, and referrals for risks outside the exercise professional's scope, such as medications and home hazards. Many sections reward building the program from the client's actual fall history. Cite a review of exercise for fall prevention and a screening toolkit or guidelines text. Keep balance exercises supported and specific so the client can do them safely at home.

How the EF 310 Unit 8 example is put together

The program opens with the client, her house and the night-time fall. Baseline results for three tests are reported with their interpretation, citing the CDC's screening toolkit. A section separates risks exercise can change from those it cannot. The exercise section sets out Otago-style strengthening, balance and walking, with visit frequency. The highlighted sentence makes referrals equal to exercise, and four numbered referrals follow, each tied to a detail of her fall. A section explains the evidence for exercise, citing a Cochrane review and the position stand. Progression rules, eight-week targets, and safety measures, including practice getting up from the floor, close the program.

Reading the EF310 Unit 8 grading rubric

Fall prevention programs tend to be graded on assessment and interpretation, targeting of exercises, attention to non-exercise risks, safety and progression, and evidence. Attention to non-exercise risks often separates strong programs, because falls rarely have a single cause and the exercise professional must know where the role ends. Assessment credit rewards correct tests and thresholds. Targeting earns points when each exercise addresses a measured deficit. Safety points go to supported balance work and floor-recovery practice. Progression is rewarded when it is specific and tied to retesting. Citations to a fall prevention review and a screening toolkit complete the expected support for the program. Programs that state who delivers each part, and how often, show they could actually run in a client's home.

Common EF310 Unit 8 mistakes, and how to avoid them

A frequent gap is a program of generic exercises with no link to the client's test results. Another is ignoring medications or home hazards because they are outside exercise. Some students prescribe unsupported balance work in the middle of a room. Others give no targets for retesting. Forgetting what happens if she falls again, such as how she will get up or call for help, leaves a known risk unaddressed. Planning for a different client, perhaps someone with Parkinson disease or after a hip fracture? Share the fall history and test results, and the program can be built around both. A program with no retest date gives no way to tell whether the risk has fallen.

Get an EF310 Unit 8 example written to your instructions

Forward the Unit 8 case with whatever assessment results it lists, plus your rubric. The program reads each test against a published cutoff, stages balance work by support, and separates what exercise can change from what belongs to a referral. The first one carries no fee, and the finished program follows within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

More EF310 papers and BS in Health Science samples

EF310 Unit 8 questions, answered

Does the program have to follow Otago?

No, unless the prompt names it. Otago is often used because it was designed for older adults at home and has trial evidence behind it, which makes the rationale easy to cite. Other evidence-based programs, such as tai chi-based approaches, can suit a different client. Whatever the model, the program should say why it fits this person's results and setting.

Which balance and mobility tests should be reported?

The ones the case supplies, or the ones the course text recommends, often the Timed Up and Go, the thirty-second chair stand and the four-stage balance test from the CDC's STEADI initiative. Report each with its cutoff and what the result suggests. Choosing tests that match the program's targets makes the retest meaningful later in the plan.

Should the program address medications and home hazards?

It should identify them and refer them. Sedating medications, poor lighting and vision problems are established fall risk factors, and a program that ignores them misses part of the case. Changing medications belongs to the prescriber and home modification to professionals such as occupational therapists. Naming the finding and the right referral is the expected response.

Where can I find a free EF310 Unit 8 sample paper?

The full Unit 8 fall prevention program is here, for an eighty-two-year-old who fell on the way to the bathroom at night.

What does a 15-second Timed Up and Go result mean?

It is slower than the 12-second mark that screening toolkits use to flag increased fall risk, so it supports targeted strength and balance work.