BALTIMORE, Md. — Coast Guard veteran, Robert Mead, has been active his entire life. Now in his eighties, a few falls concerned him so he reached out the VA Maryland Health Care System for help.
"I'd fall and I'd have to call 911 to come pick me up," says Mead.
He is now part of the Gait Better study. It's a virtual reality pilot program aimed at helping veterans improve their gait and balance. Participants walk on a treadmill using a virtual screen and safety harness.
"This technology provides, really, an opportunity that we can challenge somebody in a way we can't do in a regular clinic," says Dr. Susan Conroy, principal investigator of the Gait Better study.
"We have a safety harness. We have virtual environments where we're in, maybe, a city or a park that we can't duplicate in the clinic."
Veterans come in to walk twice a week for two months. The program is like a video game and participants receive a score on how well they handle different scenarios.
Doctors use that to help participants figure out the best way to improve their walking.
"It can make a whole big difference in your life, especially if you don't end up in hospitals with new hips and new ankles and new knees and all that sort of stuff," says Mead with a laugh.
He says the program has allowed him to be independent again.
For 6 months after they complete the study, researchers follow up and track whether or not veterans experience any falls.
They are still accepting participants.
For more information about the Gait Better study, please call 410-637-3213.