Dual-Task Training for Falling

(REAL-DTT Trial)

Older adults have difficulty optimizing two tasks at once and typically experience greater interference than younger adults when dual-tasking, meaning that there is greater decline in performance of at least one task when comparing single and dual-tasking. Difficulty dual-tasking may actually predict falls in community-dwelling older adults. Dual-task training has been shown to improve cognitive outcomes (attention, memory), motor outcomes (balance, gait), and dual-task performance in older adults; however, most dual-task training involves simulated tasks that do not reflect functional dual tasks in the real world. Greater dual-task improvements could be seen when training functionally specific tasks. One way to increase task specificity is to offer real-life, contextually-relevant, dual-task training embedded in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a real-life dual-task training program for older adults at risk to fall compared to fall prevention education.