Springfield College Students, Faculty Assist with Fall-prevention Program

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College physical therapy and occupational therapy programs recently collaborated to host a Fall Prevention Program for community members inside the Live Every Day clinic located on the Springfield College campus. Participants were properly screened by Springfield College students and faculty for their balance and fall risk, followed by some recommendations for medical care following the screening.

“The goal of the Live Every Day clinic on the campus is to provide an inter-disciplinary clinic that connects as many as of the health-sciences programs as possible,” said Live Every Day co-founder and Springfield College alumnus Matt Calendrillo. “This particular program brought the physical-therapy and occupational-therapy students together to work with some real patients in a professional setting. They were able to execute a timed up and go test, followed by a timed stance piece that assesses a person’s endurance and balance, followed by the students working with patients on the floor demonstrating how they can get up off of the floor should they encounter a fall.”

The collaboration at the Live Every Day clinic stemmed from a seminar the Springfield College physical therapy and occupational therapy programs did together last year as a way to get the students ready for clinical work, said Springfield College Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Kimberly Nowakowski.

Live Every Day is a certified clinic that provides students an opportunity to receive hands-on experience in working with actual patients right on the main Springfield College campus.

“It’s great being able to assist the community members and educate them in ways to be safer, which hopefully makes their lives even better — that’s a big focus of what we try to accomplish when working in the clinic,” said physical therapy major Griffin Bennett.

Added Springfield College Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Jean McCaffery, “it’s a real clinic, and the more the students can be in a real environment working with real clients, the more they will continue to grow in their programs.”