14 January 2026
Valladolid
Newly graduated Physiotherapy students from the University of Deusto, Oier Parada Soler and Jon Otegui Aramburu, supervised by professor Xabier García Rebollo, have won first prize in the DASP Challenge (Designing Actions in Public Health) with their Final Year Project entitled ‘Proposal for a Community Falls Prevention Protocol within the Erandio Lagunkoia Project’.
The award, in the category 'Actions for prevention, early diagnosis and the management of frailty', was presented during the 2nd International Congress on Active Coping with Chronic Pain held in Valladolid on 17, 18 and 19 October.
Structured physical exercise with a community focus
The awarded Final Year Project, developed using a Service-Learning (ApS) methodology, aims to promote age-friendly environments and active ageing, focusing on fall prevention in Erandio. It does so by identifying risk points observed during organised group walks, which will involve participants who are at risk of, or fearful of, falling. After analysing the situation in Erandio, the authors of the Final Year Project proposed a comprehensive prevention programme based on structured physical exercise with a community focus. The plan is to later introduce it in local senior centres, encouraging social interaction and active ageing.
This research project is based on a World Health Organization proposal for creating age-friendly cities and communities. Applied to the local context, it will help launch a pilot programme with the Town Council, in coordination with Social Services and Urban Planning, within the framework of the new General Urban Development Plan.
The awarded project, supported by Erandio’s Councillor for Social Services, Maite Pérez, to pilot the fall-detection walks proposed in the Final Year Project, also strengthens collaboration between the university and the local authorities, linking the academic sphere with health action.
