Mini Analysis: Balance class for older adults

Topic: Balance Training

Topic
This class would increase the understanding of how we maintain balance, what some of the things which contribute to poor balance, and ways to improve the balance of older adults.

Audience
The audience is older adults in living within the community. They may or may not have existing balance problems. Some of the audience may actually be caregivers in charge of helping to maintain independence for their client.

Description
The mini analysis targeted a group of people who would represent the audience who might benefit from such a class. They are community dwelling older adults, aged 60 to 85. They are current students of another class being offered through their location.

The survey was designed and held on the Survey Monkey site. It was a brief survey, designed to take less than 5 minutes to complete.

Types of questions

Two types of closed-ended questions were used, likert-scale and categorical questions.

The survey was intended to answer the following questions:
1. Do these audience members believe that they have a balance challenge?
2. Have they tried to improve their balance with training in the past?
3. Would they be interested in a class to help their balance?
4. What sort of delivery components and course elements would be interesting to this group?

Number of participants in the survey
Ten students completed the survey. The students were part of a class containing students who would be similar to the audience for this type of class.

What was discovered
The results of the survey were in some ways predictable with a few surprises. The analysis found that:

• A majority of the respondents (66.7%) indicated that they had some balance problems.
• Most had not taken a balance course. Of the 30% who had taken a course, only one of the respondents felt that it met their balance goals.
• 90% of respondents are interested in a course to improve balance.
• This group indicated that they would like a variety of delivery components. With the exception of one component mentioned, the clear majority of respondents felt that lectures, print media, exercises, large group and small group activities would all be something they would definitely like to see. The final component, individual consultations, was the least clear with nearly 1/3 of the respondents in each of the categories.
• They were less certain about elements which are unique to an online course. On most of these, there were no clear majority of opinions. The online course for materials held the most interest, with the majority definitely or maybe interested in seeing that. The discussion board, live chat, and accompanying social site were less than convincing.

A note about the discrepancy of results regarding the additional elements of an online course: This group of older adults has a limited amount of experience with online instruction. Most have never participated in a live chat, discussion board or social site. With a group of adults who have successfully participated in an online course, they might have been able to make a more balanced decision regarding additional elements.

How this information can help
Based on this limited analysis, a balance course is something that this audience would find helpful. The results suggest that the course may be successful if:

1. It is offered with a variety of delivery options, including lectures, print, exercises, group activities and small group activities.

2. There is an online course site for materials. Although there was limited support for the discussion board, live chat and social site, there was enough support for a discussion board to warrant a try. As mentioned above, the lack of experience with online components and elements make it difficult for this particular audience to make an educated guess.