Abstract
Fall risks are predominantly associated with older adults. One out of every three adults over the age of 65 falls each year. Specifically, individuals living with diabetes are at a much higher risk of falls due to a greater number of medications, higher levels of pain, lower physical activity, decreased grip strength, and have more limitations with activities of daily living. One aspect that an occupational therapist can focus on with patients who are living with diabetes is decreasing the risks of falls by providing them functional exercise interventions. Exercise can improve muscle strength to regain balance, improve stamina, helps maintain healthy bones, muscles, and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression (Hofmann, 2021). There were six level I studies that focused on providing exercise interventions to decrease risks of falls in diabetic patients. The key summary was, there is no difference in how exercises are delivered to patients with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, but that individuals who participate in a long-term exercise program will see better results than short-term programs and increase quality of life and provide preventive measures for fall-related injuries. Static balance, lower extremity strength, and gait work better for preventing falls and injuries for individuals with diabetes mellitus through the use of exercise interventions such as qigong exercise might have a better interventional effect on patients with a longer duration of type 2 diabetes mellitus, while tai chi might be risky for people with central obesity; after tai chi and qigong interventions that participants BMI, FPG, and other physiological functions improved which correlates to preventive measures such as fall risks due to improved health which carries over in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus.