Whangārei grandmother welcomes ACC Nymbl app that gives more balance to life

Dorothy Hutchinson-Fitzpatrick, here with her twin 6-year-old grandchildren Lara and Liam at their school prizegiving last year, is enjoying the difference a new app has made to her life.

There's an app for just about every purpose these days, and 76-year-old Whangārei grandmother Dorothy Hutchinson-Fitzpatrick, who has struggled with balance all her life, is delighted with one being trialled by ACC.

The Nymbl balance training app had made "a huge difference", she said.

Jamaican born but living in New Zealand for more than 45 years, she had been using Nymbl every day since early December to counter her vertigo and motion sickness.

"I can now stand up quite easily from a chair, whereas before I really struggled doing that. I didn't realise how reliant I was on that push up, but now I can do it quite easily."

ACC is funding the trial of the app, designed to help seniors stay steady on their feet, using dual-tasking, combining simple body movements with easy brain games, like trivia, to challenge both the brain and body.

ACC injury prevention leader Kirsten Malpas said it had been a huge success, with more than 14,000 older New Zealanders registering to use it since it was launched in August.

Last year more than 160,000 New Zealanders over 65 experienced a fall that required medical care. In Northland, 72,793 people over 65 had claimed for a fall-related injury over the past 10 years, including a decade-high 8801 last year.

Hutchinson-Fitzpatrick said at first she had found it stressful trying to do both mental and physical exercises.

"You're focused on your feet and your body and looking to do some cognitive exercises as well. It's a good test trying to move your feet while you are trying to answer the question. I wasn't very good to start, but I have definitely got better.

"I do it every day, and the exercises are a lot of fun. I look forward to it. I'm having fewer stumbles around the house, especially when I change direction.

"I am always in the garden, and I love to walk. With gardening there is a lot of bending down and bending over to get things, and I'm finding that a lot easier to cope with now."

And there was nothing better than being able to play with her five grandchildren, two of whom live next door.

"This is a great idea from ACC, and it's really positive they are funding the trial. A lot of people like me don't have the time or don't want to go to the gym, so it is great to have balance exercises you can do from your own home, whenever you want," she added.

"I'm very careful about what I do, as at my age I don't want to have any broken bones or injuries, because it takes a long time to recover and has a big impact on your life."

ACC was funding the trial as part of its older people's programme, Live Stronger for Longer, which was focused on preventing falls and fractures.

"Falls have a significant impact on a person's quality of life, especially if it results in a fracture, so we want to do what we can to prevent them from happening in the first place," Malpas said.

Falls are the most common cause of injury in New Zealand, accounting for 39 per cent of all ACC claims. Fall-related injuries most commonly occur in the home, and women are slightly more likely to be injured by falling than men.

Every year one in three people over 65 injures themselves in a fall, rising to one in two once they reach 80.