Smart Wearable Balance Systems for Older Adults at Risk of Falls: What a Scoping Review and Market Comparison Found

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with community-dwelling older adults on balance and fall risk, and who are being asked about home-based or technology-assisted balance programs by patients, families, employers, or vendors.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient, home health, skilled nursing, and community wellness settings; clinicians involved in selecting or evaluating rehabilitation technology; educators and students in geriatric or vestibular rehabilitation.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course reports the findings of a single published scoping review and market comparison. All claims, counts, and conclusions in this course trace to that source.

Nairn B, Tsakanikas V, Gordon B, Karapintzou E, Kaski D, Fotiadis DI, Bamiou DE. Smart Wearable Technologies for Balance Rehabilitation in Older Adults at Risk of Falls: Scoping Review and Comparative Analysis. JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol. 2025;12:e69589. doi:10.2196/69589. PMID: 40435383. PMCID: PMC12136182.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe what the scoping review and market comparison set out to map and which population the included systems were intended for.
2. Name the technology features the review found to be common across the identified systems and the features it found to be underdeveloped.
3. State what the authors concluded about the TeleRehab Decision Support System and the limits they themselves placed on that conclusion.

1. Start Here: how this course works and what the source is
2. The Podcast: Smart Wearable Balance Systems, Reported Plainly (about nine minutes)
3. Why Fall Risk Drove This Review, and Which Systems Qualified
4. How the Search and the Market Scan Were Run
5. What the 17 Systems Actually Offered
6. Where the Evidence Stops: Limits of the Review and of TeleRehab DSS
7. Reading This Review as a Clinician: Questions It Can and Cannot Settle
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course reports the findings of a single published scoping review and market comparison. All claims, counts, and conclusions in this course trace to that source.
2. Nairn B, Tsakanikas V, Gordon B, Karapintzou E, Kaski D, Fotiadis DI, Bamiou DE. Smart Wearable Technologies for Balance Rehabilitation in Older Adults at Risk of Falls: Scoping Review and Comparative Analysis. JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol. 2025;12:e69589. doi:10.2196/69589. PMID: 40435383. PMCID: PMC12136182.