News Photo by Beth Gohs With pproximately 10 years of serving and providing for the senior community, Sherri Mallard, left, and Mary Corum serve food during the Alpena Senior Citizen Center Christmas Feast Thursday.

ALPENA — The Alpena Senior Citizen Center hosts a Matter of Balance program that assists people who are at high risk of falling overcome fears of becoming immobile.

Led by In-Home Service Manager Mike Stauffer, the classes are used nationally to include exercises that strengthen unused muscles as well as encouragement to ease the fear of falling.

“We talk about fall prevention, being assertive in asking for help if needed and how to manage concerns about falling,” he said. “We also talk about recognizing habits that we have that could put us at risk for falling and go through a home inspection safety list to improve living situations that could be hazardous.”

Free of charge, the eight week program is held twice a year during the fall and spring, the next class will be held at the senior center Dec. 18 at 9:30 a.m.

“The reason for falls or concern of falls is because seniors start going out not as much and thinking mobility issues are a fact of life, which is just not true,” Stauffer said.

The program generates positive feedback from seniors and regular participation. For more information contact the senior center at 356-3585.

Beth Gohs can be reached via email at bgohs@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693.

News Photo by Beth Gohs
With pproximately 10 years of serving and providing for the senior community, Sherri Mallard, left, and Mary Corum serve food during the Alpena Senior Citizen Center Christmas Feast Thursday.