Steady as he goes at FallProof

A few months ago John Prentice could barely lift himself out of bed without the help of his wife. He was, for the most part, confined to a wheelchair and unable to hold himself up, not due to lack of muscle strength but to a lack of equilibrium.

After a surgery that removed two-thirds of his cerebellum, the area of the brain that controls muscle movement, balance and posture, Prentice found everyday activities such as walking or sitting up extremely challenging.

“He had no concept of the depth of anything,” said his wife, Barbara. “If I didn’t hold onto him he would fall backward.”

Every Tuesday and Thursday for the past few weeks, Prentice escorts her husband to the multipurpose room of the Costa Mesa Senior Center for FallProof, a balance and mobility training class led by Judy Aprile.

Aprile works for senior centers throughout Orange County as an exercise instructor for older adults. She began her training in Laguna Beach in 1990, and came to the FallProof program in 1999.

The program, developed at the Center for Successful Aging at Cal State Fullerton, works to reduce falling risks for seniors while improving mental and physical dexterity.

The center is able to use professional instructors like Aprile and still offer the class for free, as a result of grants from the California Wellness Archstone foundations.

The grants fund a series of fall-prevention programs at the center, said Darryl Kim, program director of the Costa Mesa Center.

Through this and other classes provided by Hoag Hospital and the Oasis Senior Center, Barbara Prentice has watched her husband slowly regain his balance, mobility and confidence.

“This class is fine tuning the basics he learned [at Hoag Hospital].”

John Prentice shared a small success story with his classmates about his use of the balance techniques.

Prentice’s 7-year-old grandson Justin Prentice cam along to cheer on his grandfather “Poppy”.

“He has gone from almost confined in a wheelchair to walking with a cane, and sometimes without one,” Barbara Prentice said.

“He’s more sure-footed now.”

Still, sometimes her husband can be a little too confident for her comfort.

“He’s very eager, but sometimes you have to be careful,” she said.

The class opened with seated warm-ups and stretching. Aprile splits the exercises into 10- to 15-minute routines, beginning in seated positions, working the thighs and hips, then standing and walking.

Chairs, exercise balance balls and foam mats are all used to help the class understand the importance of using balance techniques while simply sitting and standing.

Students are reminded to maintain their posture. Always keep the shoulders directly over the belly-button, Aprile said.

Fall-prevention classes have become one of the focuses of programming at the center for Kim and director Aviva Goelman.

“I’m encouraged to watch how they go through these different stages,” Goelman said. “I think most of these people if they didn’t have groups like this would give into walkers and wheelchairs.” Credit: KENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Judy Aprile, right, assists Art Collison during a FallProof class at the Costa Mesa Senior Center on Thursday. The class helps seniors improve their balance and mobility. dpt.15-boomers-C.1PhotoInfoRP1SVED020060715j2f2jmncCredit: Caption: (LA)