There is a class that can help prevent what's considered a national problem.

Medical experts say one out of three people over the age of 65 will fall, and out of those that do, one out of three will suffer long term problems.

"It means not only a loss of function and inability to look after themselves, they lose their independence and they very often will have to go to nursing care of some kind,” said physical therapist, Ann Low.

Low is a faculty member in the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Kapiolani Community College. The school is working with the Kupuna Education Center to provide fall prevention classes starting next month.

"People who are getting older and noticing they're starting to trip a little bit, they haven't fallen and hurt themselves badly but they're starting to see my balance is not as good as it used to be,” said Low.

He says the challenges people face after falling is as much psychological as physical.

"Psychologically they lose their confidence, they fall once and hurt themselves and now they're very scared of doing anything that might make them fall again,” said Low.

The Fall Prevention class is a five-week course that will be held every Saturday for two hours. The cost is $25 and caregivers are welcome at no extra charge. Those who attend will be given a baseline test.

"We can pretty much tell someone's potential for falling by how long they take to do a certain task, which is getting up from a chair, walking ten yards, turning around, coming back and sitting down again,” said Low.

And they'll be tested at the end of five weeks to check for improvement. Low says they'll also be made aware of the dangers in the environment.

"Do you have non-slip floors in your showers? Do you have grab bars? Do you have stairs that have bad lighting? Do you have stairs that have well marked treads?" said Low.

Call # 734-9108 for more information or visit http://www.kupunaeducation.com/.