Assistive devices for ambulation.

Interacting with other people and the environment is fundamental to quality of life. Canes, walkers, and crutches increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of many individuals with neurologic disorders. Canes offer a choice of handle, shaft, and base.

Update on falls prevention for community-dwelling older adults: review of single and multifactorial intervention programs.

The incidence of falls, fall-related injuries, and fall-associated costs continue to rise along with the increase in the aging population. Community-based fall prevention programs for the elderly are proliferating in an attempt to address this health problem. Prevention programs vary widely in their scope, ranging from single intervention strategies to comprehensive multifactorial approaches.

Kickin' Asthma: school-based asthma education in an urban community.

Background: In urban communities with high prevalence of childhood asthma, school-based educational programs may be the most appropriate approach to deliver interventions to improve asthma morbidity and asthma-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of Kickin' Asthma, a school-based asthma curriculum designed by health educators and local students, which teaches asthma physiology and asthma self-management techniques to middle and high school students in Oakland, CA.

Methods: Eligible students were identified through an in-class asthma case identification survey.

Identification and education of adolescents with asthma in an urban school district: results from a large-scale asthma intervention.

Asthma is a leading cause of hospitalizations, acute care utilization, health care costs, and school absences in children. Asthma morbidity is disproportionately high in inner city populations. In general, community-based public health interventions to reduce asthma morbidity have had modest success due in part to their limited reach and low participation by the targeted population.