Planning a Balance workshop

This outline assists in the planning for an Evidence-based Balance workshop

The 2-day workshop commences at 8.00am each day.

The workshop commences early each day because there a large amount of content to cover.
Most allied health professionals are used to starting work at 8.00am or 8.30am.

The workshop requires two presenters as there is a significant amount of content and clinical sessions each day.

A maximum of 24 registrants can attend. The host site needs to guarantee to organise 8 patient participants for the clinical sessions.

Numbers are restricted because of the clinical sessions where groups of 3 therapists work together with a patient participant, to analyse then train the person’s balance.  It is not possible to provide a satisfactory hands-on learning environment if groups are larger than 3.

The workshop is aimed at physiotherapists who work with people who have balance difficulties and may be/are at risk of falling, including inpatients and community dwelling older adults, people with orthopaedic and neurological conditions including stroke and brain injury.  Therapy assistants may also attend the workshop if they are involved with coaching and training.

The most suitable venue is a hospital or rehabilitation centre, with easy access to inpatients and outpatients, but a community centre or private practice can be used to host the balance retraining workshop with community-based participants. The lecture sessions/presentations can be conducted in education centre facilities, or in a rehabilitation gymnasium (provided the room can be set up for Powerpoint presentations and  darkened sufficiently for the slideshow to be easily visible during the day).

Clinical sessions are best run in either one large gymnasium or two gymnasium areas which can accommodate 7 or 8 groups of therapists/patient participants and their  carers.

Up to 8 people with balance problems will be invited to participate in training sessions, alone or with a relative/friend/carer. On-site therapists identify and brief these individuals about the workshop and what will be involved. The aim in identifying participants is to involve a variety of people who are inpatients and living at home/in the community who have reduced balance and are at risk of falls.

People with balance problems will attend for approximately 1¼  hours each day from 2:45 to 4:00pm. They will be assessed, a training program established and practice/homework set up for the ward/home overnight. They will be asked to complete their homework practice and their performance and goals will be reviewed the following day. The same people with balance problems will attend for the two days. Family members and or carers are encouraged to attend so that they can help the person with their overnight practice. Where this is not possible, or the patient participants can manage their own practice independently, a carer is not required. Community-dwelling participants may need to have transport arranged (and paid for) by the workshop organisers. Outpatients may be able to arrange their own transport, however, offers of taxi fares or Cabcharge vouchers will make participation easier.

The success of the workshop for the therapists who attend is dependent on the participation of volunteer balance participants. If organisers have difficulty recruiting  sufficient volunteers, nearby hospitals and private therapists should be contacted to help with recruitment. A certificate of acknowledgement can be printed, and gift purchased for each participant to thank them for their participation (eg photograph frame, gift voucher, flowers).  Balance participants and their carers who are attending the workshop clinical sessions are welcome to attend lecture component of the workshop, if they would like to listen and contribute to the discussion.

  1. Presenter Fees (for 2022):
    Email StrokeEd for current workshop costs or a quote. Invoices will be forwarded to organisers prior to the event.
  2. Accommodation:
    Two nights accommodation for each presenter in a local apartment (or hotel) with desk facilities for preparation. To be paid in advance by organisers.
  3. Travel for presenter
    Airfares/flights or train travel should be costed and paid in advance by the organisers – to/from Sydney (within Australia) – economy class. Airport/railway transfers and to/from hotel to hospital venue (taxi fares/Cabcharge vouchers) to be arranged and paid for by organisers.
  4. Venue hire (if applicable)
  5. Catering
    Lunch, morning and afternoon teas for attending therapists, 2 presenters and possibly patient participants and carers.
  6. Printing and postage of pre-reading and workshop manual.
    Pre-reading will be sent to workshop organisers to email to participants 3-4 weeks before the event. Workshop manuals which include Powerpoint slides and worksheets will be sent to the course organisers one month prior to the workshop for printing.  It is important the manuals are high quality prints to ensure that all photographs are clear. Organisers can choose to send electronic manuals to the participants in lieu of printing the manuals.
  • A data projector. We will bring our own MAC computer and adaptors.
  • A white board and white board markers

The aim is to provide suitable items for use when measuring and training participants.  Ideally this equipment is stored in a central place in the gymnasium (eg table  or trolley) for use by all therapists and presenters during the workshop.  Don’t worry if you don’t have some of the items on this list, but please let the presenters know if there are items that you don’t have or can’t get.

  1. Adjustable height electric beds/ plinths
  2. Adjustable height tables
  3. Chairs of different heights
  4. Tape measures
  5. Stop watches
  6. Coloured electrical tape
  7. Micropore tape (or some similar sticky paper tape which is easy to tear)
  8. Books or wooden blocks of between 5-10 cm height
  9. Cups or polystyrene/paper cups
  10. White board marker pens
  11. Sheets of paper to record and write down practice
  12. Bathroom weighing scales
  13. Rulers
  14. Walking sticks
  15. 5-10° wedges
  16. Sliding tilt table and slippery slide sheets (used to slide patients during transfers)
  17. Measurement wheel to measure distance?

StrokeEd presenters have professional indemnity allowing them to work with patients and therapists in your setting. Karl, Simone and Kate are registered with AHPRA to work as physiotherapists in Australia.

Use the contact form on this website to make inquiries about planning your workshop