Tai Chi for Arthritis and Falls Prevention - San Diego CA

Registration closes June 1, 2023 @12:00pm or once 35 people have registered.

Course Description

The Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention Program was recommended by CDC and is evidenced based. This program has tai chi principles for improving health and wellness, as well as proven effective for fall prevention. In addition to established manuals and consistent instructor training world-wide, the Tai Chi for Arthritis for Fall Prevention program is evidence based. The following are several examples. Similar to other western countries, the New South Wales Health Department of Australia experiences high costs related to injuries due to falls—far higher than from injuries of any other source including road trauma.iv In 2001, the Department funded the world’s largest fall prevention study in a community setting. The majority of participants were taught the Tai Chi for Arthritis program. This study found that recurring falls were reduced by nearly 70%. It also found that building confidence—a fundamental component of the Tai Chi for Arthritis program—correlates closely to the reduced rate of falling. This study was one of the two listed on the CDC official site as evidence of tai chi preventing falls. In addition to the New South Wales Health Department, the Aged Care Department in Victoria, the South Australia Health Department, among others around the world, have funded training for Tai Chi for Arthritis programs.

Instructor: Sam Baxter PT, DPT, is a certified Tai Chi instructor for “Arthritis and Falls Prevention” as well as “Tai Chi for Rehabilitation.”  For the past 15 years he has been working in the Skilled Nursing (SNF) setting.  He has been a staff therapist, Director of Rehabilitation, and currently works as a Therapy Resource for Ensign Facility Services.  Sam became interested in Tai Chi as a physical therapist, reviewing research related to fall prevention, and coming to understand its evidence-based approach to reducing the risk for falls.  He is a past advisory committee member at San Diego State University’s Physical therapy program and also guest lectures there, sharing a variety of topics related to regulations and clinical practices in the SNF environment.