Balance Definitions and Criteria

As you have studied, balance is the ability to maintain a posture over a base of support. In human
movement, we usually describe sitting, standing and ambulation in terms of balance abilities. We
describe static balance as the ability to hold a position and dynamic balance as the ability to hold, move
and return to a restful, balance position.

Humans are able to balance in many other positions. Think about ballet dancers, gymnasts,
snowboarders, yogis and other athletes who balance on various body parts while spinning, rotating and
landing in balance. Unilateral and bilateral balance, balancing on a surfboard while the wave is moving
beneath us. In rehab, we concern ourselves with simple sitting, standing and ambulation balance. For
some of our clients – becoming able to balance in these “simple” positions is a life changer.

When writing an evaluation it is critical that we use the same language to describe what we see. The
same score on a test of balance should have the same meaning to all therapists assuming they
performed the test and scored it correctly. In a functional evaluation we may not perform a test of
balance but we will be asked to describe how the client balances in sitting, standing and ambulation. In
this class we should all be able to describe how a client is able to balance using the same clear and
objective language.

A client may balance differently in sitting, standing and during ambulation. Each activity must be
described separately. The static and dynamic balance capabilities must be described differently. Using
the definitions included in the class, static balance is the ability to maintain the position. When a person
can withstand a perturbation they are using dynamic capabilities.

For this class please state how you graded the person’s balance (Excellent, good, fair, etc.) and how you
arrived at that conclusion (Sitting Balance – excellent -can maintain a sitting position without back
support unassisted and can withstand perturbations; Standing balance – Fair- can stand for 30 seconds
unassisted but cannot withstand perturbations; Ambulation balance – Poor- requires moderate
assistance to ambulate 10 feet because of poor balance).