Floor-hugging Intervention: Managing Fear of Falling Through Floor Exposure and Developing After-fall Contingency

Summary

Fear of falling is a major public health problem and is characterized by a lack of confidence in one's ability to maintain balance and prevent falls. The fear can range from reasonable precautions to avoid slippery surfaces to an overwhelming fear that prevents people from performing everyday activities. Several factors contribute to this fear, including physical, psychological, social and environmental factors. These factors can not only lead to an increased tendency to fall, but also to increased anxiety, depression and social isolation, which can ultimately impair the individual's physical and mental health. Current approaches to help have only limited or moderate success, often because they do not take into account how the environment affects people's relationship with the floor.

For example, in urbanized societies, people spend less time in contact with the floor, which may have led to an individual's perception of the floor changing. This connection is not only physical, but can also involve a lack of mental and sensory familiarity. Without regular interaction with the floor in different positions, the individual may feel insecure or unfamiliar with the floor. This unfamiliarity can increase anxiety and encourage hypervigilant behavior that can lead to a fear of falling. Similarly, unfamiliarity with the floor can also contribute to a person's ability to respond effectively to a fall, often leaving the person unsure of what steps to take next.

The Floor-Hugging Intervention (Floor-HI) is a new intervention that can address these issues. The intervention consists of three main parts: learning how to get down on the floor, familiarizing oneself with the floor, and learning how to get back up. In the first part, participants learn how to lie down on the floor using evidence-based methods. The participant then practices lying on the floor to become more comfortable and less anxious. By repeatedly practicing lying on the floor in a safe environment, the intervention aims to break the connection between the floor and the fear associated with it, while promoting a more positive and confident mindset.

The third part of Floor-HI is to teach strategies for getting up from the floor. This is important to help participants gain the confidence and physical strength to recover from falls. Participants are given practice in different ways to get up, first with the help of furniture and then without assistance. The training aims not only to improve participants' physical abilities but also their confidence in dealing with falls.

Each session of the Floor HI programme is designed to last 1 hour and to be performed three times a week for three weeks. The training would be divided equally between getting used to the floor and learning to stand up. The results of the programme would be evaluated by assessing its impact on participants' fear of falling, static and dynamic balance, fall frequency, ability to get up from the floor and general quality of life. In addition, the acceptability of the intervention and any adverse events occurring as a result of participation in the intervention will also be collected. In conclusion, Floor-HI can be a good way to manage the fear of falling by focusing on both mental and physical aspects, which can ultimately help people to live more active and fulfilling lives.

Conditions

• Fear of Falling
• Balance Changes
• Healthy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Floor-HI (intervention combines floor exposure with floor rise strategies)

Floor HI training consists of the following three systematic steps 1. Positioning on the floor: Participants are first taught the backward chaining method. This technique involves using nearby furniture as support to move from an upright position to a kneeling position, through prone and side lying positions, and finally to a supine position. 2. Ground hugging: In this phase, participants will assume a position on the floor. They are encouraged to simulate a fall scenario by observing their surroundings while using relaxation techniques. This includes deep breathing exercises. 3. Getting up from the floor: The final phase focuses on teaching participants techniques to recover from a fall, tailored to their individual balance abilities. The intervention is carried out on printed surfaces that mimic high fall risk surfaces such as icy, cluttered, wet surfaces.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Karlstad University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

64 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-02-11

Primary Completion

2027-08-31

Completion

2027-10-31

Countries

• Sweden

Study Locations