Ron Blehm: Why Falls Aren’t an “Older Adult Problem” — And What We Should Be Doing in Midlife

Ron Blehm is a longtime physical therapist who left clinical practice to found EEI Physical Wellness Institute and focus on something he believes is often missing from healthcare: whole-person functional assessment.Ron challenges the diagnosis-driven, reimbursement-focused model of care that can leave important pieces of the puzzle overlooked. Things like gait speed, balance, endurance, cognition, sleep, nutrition—and how all of these factors work together to influence how we move and function.He also shares his experience working in a falls specialty clinic, and explains why he believes we shouldn’t wait until someone is falling repeatedly to start paying attention.We talk about his 30-point FAST—Functional Assessment Screening Tool—and some of the “blind spots” it can reveal, including proprioception and rapid strength. And Ron challenges one of our most common assumptions: is age itself really the risk factor, or is it what happens to our function as we age?Most importantly, this conversation asks us to rethink prevention.What could we do differently if we started assessing and developing balance, mobility, strength, and movement capacity in midlife—long before a fall becomes the reason we pay attention?Links:EEI Physical Wellness InstituteConnect with Ron on LinkedInhttps://www.agentsofmovement.com/