About FootHold

Falls in older people are a major public health problem, with one in three older people falling each year. Fortunately, many falls are preventable if appropriate preventative actions are taken.

FootHold is a foot and ankle exercise program developed by a team of Australian researchers. The objective of the exercise program is to strengthen foot and ankle muscles in older people to improve balance and reduce the risk of falling.

FootHold is based on a world-first randomised controlled trial which was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2011. This trial found that as part of a multifaceted podiatry intervention consisting of routine podiatry care, foot orthoses, advice on footwear and falls prevention information, the FootHold exercise program reduced the rate of falls over a 12 month period by 36%.

The resources provided on this site were developed by Prof Hylton Menz as part of his National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship.

Since launching this website in 2016, there have been >43,000 accesses from 19 countries, and over 300 DVDs have been distributed to health services in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the Philippines.