PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Growing older, in many cases, means you are at a higher risk to suffer a fall. That event often spirals into other health issues that diminish independence.
Melanie Basinger, a 20-plus-year physical therapist, started the non-profit "Therapy on the Move" to honor a close friend who spent the last 4 years of his life in a nursing home following multiple falls.
Basinger says her goal is to “stop seniors from falling and to allow them to live every day to their full potential, in their own homes with people they love, doing things that bring them joy."
Therapy on the Move is a seven-week fall prevention program free of charge to seniors. The Portsmouth YMCA is their first community location.
The nonprofit is currently engaged in its sixth program, after the initial kick-off in September 2021.
Sessions engage groups of 12 seniors, who spend the first hour on exercise and the second hour on education and small group discussion. The program is led by licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.
Since its inception at the Portsmouth YMCA and Tidewater Community College, the program has reached 135 people. Twenty-eight people who were initially identified as a fall risk on week 1 were assessed as no longer a fall risk at week 6.
For that reason, classroom participant Rosetta Man nominated Basinger as this week's "Everyday Hero" award.
Our partners at Southern Bank also recognized the work of the program by gifting the non-profit with a $300 Visa gift card.
