Key Takeaways

  • Learn more about this small group falls prevention program for older adults with a focus on balance, strength, medication, and vision review.

  • Pisando Fuerte is delivered in Spanish for older adults who live independently and do not use a walker, scooter, or wheelchair inside the home.

Pisando Fuerte is a cultural adaptation for Spanish-speaking communities of the evidence-based Stepping On Falls Prevention Program, which is endorsed by the CDC because its one-of-a-kind multifactorial approach to reducing fall risk. Pisando Fuerte is an eight session small group community-based workshop, based on behavior change, preventive framework, and principles of adult education, focusing on four critical domains: balance and strength exercises; medication review; vision review; and home modifications.

Pisando Fuerte was designed for Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. The Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging (WIHA) is the Pisando Fuerte National License Holder and oversees the national distribution. Visit the WIHA website for dates, times, and details. 

  • Target audience: Older adults who are cognitively intact, live independently (not nursing home or assisted living), and do not use a walker, scooter, or wheelchair inside of their home.
  • Health outcomes: Stepping On demonstrated a 31% reduction in falls risk in a randomized clinical trial Pisando Fuerte has demonstrated similar outcomes in non-randomized clinical trials. Read the article about Pisando Fuerte here (https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-019-1273-1).
  • Delivered by: Two Spanish-speaking trained facilitators or a trained facilitator and a peer leader. Facilitators are generally aging network professionals, health care providers, fitness instructors, or individuals with experience working with Hispanic/Latino older adults (e.g. community health workers, promotoras). 
  • Program type: Group
  • Format: In-person  in community or remote
  • Length: 8 sessions, one 2-hour session per week
  • Training: In-person or remote 
  • Professional required: Facilitators must be someone who works with Hispanic or Latino older adults AND be fluent in Spanish. In addition, optimally, Spanish-speaking guest experts will attend. If not, an English-speaking guest expert with an interpreter can attend.
  • Accessibility adaptations available: Yes, limited.  Contact falls@wihealthyaging.org for details.
  • Cultural Adaptations available: This is a cultural adaptation of Stepping On for for Hispanic/Latino communities in the U.S. Minimal adaptations required for use outside of the U.S.
  • Available in languages other than English: This program is delivered in Spanish. For delivery in English, see Stepping On.
  • Topic(s):
    • Falls Prevention
    • Physical Acitivity
    • Medication Management
  • Contact: falls@wihealthyaging.org

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