Learning to fall

The first thing Harun Belkacem was taught was how to hit the floor. Controlled, onto a mat, over and over, until it stopped being frightening.

Fear of falling causes more loss of function than most falls do. People stop moving, decondition, and then fall.

Fear as the obstacle

Strength training in the eighties works. It is prescribed rarely, described cautiously, and generally offered later than it should be.

We are not teaching people to fall. We are removing a fear that stops them practising.

Dr. Sofia Renard, rehabilitation medicine

Strength at eighty

Continuity matters more here than in almost any other population, because the history is long and the person telling it may not be the patient.

“Eighteen months ago I could not stand up without someone’s hand,” he says.