LARSO NEWS RELEASE
The Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization (LARSO) is pleased to offer another session of A Matter of Balance (MOB) starting later this month. This evidence-based fall prevention program is designed to reduce the fear of falling and improve activity levels of older adults. The classes are designed for seniors age 60 and above. The program is FREE and completed in eight two-hour sessions, twice a week.
The new classes begin Jan, 27on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30am at the Betty Ehart Senior Activity Center. It is important the students plan to attend all eight sessions, as every class is full of valuable information. The sessions will skip President’s Day holiday on Monday, Feb.17, with the last class scheduled for Monday, Feb. 24.
Students must be age 60 or older and members of the Senior Activity Centers to register for the class. To sign up for A Matter of Balance, please call 505-662-8920. If you are interested in A Matter of Balance but are not yet a member of LARSO, signing up is easy and free for anyone age 60 or older! Join the Centers by calling Membership Coordinator Shawn Wilson at 505-662-7957.
Why is January a suitable time to start a new skill? “Traditionally many people make New Year’s resolutions, ‘I am going to get healthier, I am going to lose weight, I am going to start exercising, I am going to declutter my house’,” said Judy Lovejoy, Certified Matter of Balance Trainer, “Learning new skills are part of all these resolutions.” While falling is often perceived as something that just happens as we get older, the reality is there are strategies and skills we can learn to decrease the chance of falls and make
falls more controllable when they do happen.
The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department (NM ALSTD) and the Non-Metro New Mexico Area Agency on Aging (AAA) approve senior centers to teach MOB with qualified instructors. There is no heavy work-out required, instead easy exercises are taught that can be incorporated into daily life. MOB is best described as cognitive re-thinking about falls, plus a little bit of exercise.
The classes will be taught by Judy Lovejoy, a retired nurse, and Bernadette Lauritzen, who runs local non-profit Champions of Youth Ambitions. The instructors are both Certified Master Trainers and have taught MOB since June 2023. Topics coveredinclude addressing fears, home and community safety, positive and negative thinking, and making simple changes to reduce falls. The goal is to offer a wealth of resources byhelping to build easy to apply skills.
Recently, Lovejoy’s sister was in Regensburg, Germany on a riverboat cruise and sent Judy an extremely exciting text. Her sister happened to meet a lady from Los Alamos who took the White Rock MOB class and had much to say on the positive and personal impact of the class. Even on another continent, the issue of falling and what we can do to mitigate the risk of falls for older adults is a relevant and timely topic!