Go ahead and get us started.

So now we're live.

I'm gonna have you go ahead and start with an introduction of yourself. I'm gonna have you just say your name and the program you facilitate.

So, my name is Kim Lombard, and I feel so. It's so weird hearing yourself. Yeah, you gotta get used to it. So I facilitate the stepping on program.

Perfect. And then let me just have you say it one more time.

I'm Kim Lombard, and I facilitate the stepping on program.

Perfect. I just learned a little bit more about that program last week.

Okay.

Very exciting. I learned I have bad shoes. So how did you become a part of the program?

Well, through my job at freighter hospital, I do injury prevention, outreach and education. As part of that, we track our injury mechanism. So Falls is actually the leading cause of hospitalizations for older adults. And I've been familiar with stepping on for about 14 years. I've been a facilitator with that. One reason why we offer this program is because it's very effective. So we know that there are risk factors for older adults. We know that there are things that we can do to prevent those injuries.

We also know that falls are not a part of aging, that it's most definitely preventable. So there's really power in understanding that through behavior change and through this program, that people can actually have healthier, better lives and reduce falls and ultimately stay out of the hospital and live independently.

Absolutely. 14 years. Wow. That's amazing. So how did you get connected to the program 14 years ago?

Well, in Wisconsin, stepping on is pretty prevalent. So the organization that oversees stepping on is called WIHA, the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging. At that time, I worked in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and there was some funding opportunity for people to get trained in this program. We're really connected in the Falls prevention realm. There's many coalitions throughout the state of Wisconsin that are very coordinated. They're multidisciplined, so there's many people kind of at the table. So that's how I first learned about stepping on, was through the La Crosse County Falls prevention Coalition, and there was funding available.

Gotcha. And just to talk a little bit more about yourself, are you from Milwaukee? Born and raised. What's kind of your story?

I'm actually from La Crosse, so La Crosse is my hometown. That's where I went to school. So I got my degree in community health education from there. I worked there for about seven years. After that, I lived in Rochester, Minnesota, for five years. So I've only been in Milwaukee for the last four years working at freighter.

Oh, wow. Nice. Okay. And so in doing facilitation for 14 years, I'm sure you've watched the program expand and grow, and you've been able to have a really keen insight into opportunities and reflection. So let's talk about that. What would you say is the most impactful part of this program?

Definitely the changes that we see. So it's really powerful. As a health educator, we don't always see the outcomes of our prevention work. When we do prevention, you know, it's something that can happen down the road. There really is no kind of face to face, you know, unless we're doing evaluation to just show that the program is effective. But really, with stepping on, you see the change process throughout those seven week programs. So as people are coming in and participants are sharing about changes that they've made, it's just such a powerful thing to be able to see changes happening right there in front of your eyes. They're sharing about the footwear that they've come to find out that was unsafe, or maybe their medication needs to be.

Maybe they need to see a pharmacist to have their medications checked. So we're really having these discussions in class and having an opportunity for people to share and reflect on those changes, and it's such a powerful way to see that change process. This program also does show the increased confidence. So many times people, they're falling because they are maybe fearful of falling. It can actually be a risk factor for future falls. So one of the evidence for this program is increasing confidence as well as reduced falls. We notice a 31% reduction in falls for people who take this program to that point.