A story from PH Consulting
H.S. has a pacemaker, advanced kidney disease, a cardiac history and arthritis. In February her fall risk was very high. She could walk for 177 seconds at a stretch, at a household pace. That is the speed that gets you across a room and not much farther.
Her balance test came back 54 out of 56. On paper she was steady. That result closes a question and opens a harder one. If balance is not what is holding her back, what exactly do you treat?
Her PH Consulting care team kept her on the scheduled OneStep walk test rather than waiting for something to go wrong. The walks showed what the traditional balance assessment could not. She was not unsteady. She was running out. Endurance was the limit, and it was her own February walk that exposed it. Therapy aimed at that gap instead of at a target for someone her age.
By August she was able to maintain walking longer, 43% longer than February, and faster rather than slower. Plus, her fall risk reached Low in early March and has not left it since. She is almost at community walking speed now, and can hold it for four minutes.
Holding steady would have been a good six months. She continued to improve.
Key Outcomes