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TAI CHI

Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention

  • Reach older adults in your community through this tai chi program focused on improving movement, decreasing falls, and connecting peers.

Goals of Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention (also known as Tai Chi for Arthritis): 1) Improve movement, balance, strength, flexibility, immunity and relaxation; 2) Decrease pain and falls; 3) socialization and sustainability.

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  • Target audience: Adults with or without arthritis, rheumatic diseases or related musculoskeletal conditions. The program is appropriate for people with mild, moderate and severe joint involvement and back pain. It is especially appropriate for adults who have a higher risk of falling.

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  • Health outcomes:

    • Improved balance and mobility

    • Improved strength and flexibility

    • Improved relaxation

    • Decreased pain and falls

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  • Delivered by: Tai Chi for Health certified instructors

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  • Program type: Group

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  • Format: In-person at home, in-person in community, online (see resources below)

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  • Length:

    • Attend a minimum of 16 hours of Tai Chi for Arthritis (One hour per week for 16 weeks or 2 hours per week for 8 weeks)

    • Must be led by a certified Tai Chi for Health Institute instructor.

    • Strongly encourage participants to practice the Tai Chi program at home for half an hour daily, at least four days per week. This can be done in one half-hour session or two fifteen-minute sessions

    • Participants must attend at least one in-person or virtual class per week

    • An instructional DVD or online lessons is available to help guide learning and home practice as well as other educational aids such as books, the handbook, and wall charts

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  • Classes: Online, in-person

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  • Professional required: None

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  • Topic(s):

    • Physical Activity

    • Chronic Disease

    • Fall Prevention

    • Pain Management

 

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Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance

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Key Takeaways

  • Engage older adults in your community in a falls prevention program with tai chi movements to improve stability, coordination, and range of motion.

Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance is an evidence-based fall prevention program derived from a contemporary routine known as Simplified 24-Form Tai Ji Quan (pronounced tye gee chuwan). TJQMBB consists of an 8-form core with built-in practice variations and a subroutine of Tai Ji Quan - Mini Therapeutic Movements®, which, collectively, comprise a set of functional Tai Ji Quan exercises. TJQMBB represents a substantive enhancement of traditional Tai Ji Quan training and performance as it transforms martial arts movements into a therapeutic regimen aimed at improving postural stability, awareness and mindful control of body positioning in space, functional walking, movement symmetry and coordination, range of motion around the ankle and hip joints, lower-extremity muscle strength, and global cognitive function. TJQMBB is an Approved Provider for the American College of Sports Medicine.

Additional topic includes caregiver support.

  • Target audience: Older adults at risk of falling, people with movement disorder (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, walking difficulties)

 

  • Health outcomes:

    • Improved balance

    • Improved lower-extremity strength

    • Improved physical performance

    • Preventing falls and injurious falls

 

  • Delivered by: Trained lay leader/facilitator, fitness instructor, physical therapist, occupational therapist, nurse, certified fitness instructor

 

  • Program type: Group

 

  • Format: In-person at home, in-person in community, online (see guidance below)

 

  • Length: 24 weeks, two 1-hour session per week

 

  • Training: Online, in-person

 

  • Topic(s):

    • Physical Activity

    • Alzheimer's Disease/Dementia

    • Behavioral Health

    • Cancer Survivors

    • Chronic Disease

    • Fall Prevention  

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