How Rehabana uses the 14-task Berg Balance Scale to identify balance difficulties, plan rehabilitation and show families measurable progress.
Balance assessment
The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) is a clinical assessment used by the multidisciplinary team (MDT) to understand how well a person can maintain balance while performing everyday activities.
After a stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury or other neurological conditions, a person may experience difficulty sitting, standing, reaching, turning or walking without losing balance.
At Rehabana, we use the Berg Balance Scale to identify these difficulties, understand the patient's current balance ability and plan appropriate rehabilitation activities.
It helps us understand how safely and independently you can maintain your balance during daily activities.
Why we use it
A person may be able to stand or walk but still experience difficulty maintaining balance during everyday activities.
At Rehabana, we do not judge balance only by whether someone can walk. We assess different movements to understand the patient's actual difficulties.
This assessment helps our MDT:
What it involves
The Berg Balance Scale includes 14 functional activities. During the assessment, the MDT observes how safely and independently the patient performs each activity.
These activities help the MDT understand different aspects of sitting and standing balance, weight shifting and functional mobility.
Understanding the score
Each activity has its own scoring rules, which may consider time, distance, support or supervision.
The score is not a percentage of recovery. For example, 28/56 does not mean that someone is "50% recovered"; it is a total of scores from different balance tasks.
In general:
Planning rehabilitation
At Rehabana, the assessment is not just about giving a score. We use the findings to understand which movements are difficult and which activities need more attention during rehabilitation.
The activities are selected according to the patient's ability, safety and rehabilitation goals. Our physiotherapists provide appropriate support and supervision throughout the training.
Depending on the patient's assessment, our MDT may work on:
Tracking progress
Yes. Repeating the assessment at appropriate intervals helps our rehabilitation team compare the patient's balance performance over time.
By comparing the initial and subsequent assessment scores, we can understand whether the patient's balance performance has improved and identify areas that still need attention.
At Rehabana, we consider both the change in assessment score and the patient's actual ability to perform daily activities.
Case report example
The following scores are taken from one patient's rehabilitation progress report. Only the Berg Balance Scale results are shown.
Reading the result
The patient achieved progressively higher scores across three assessments, indicating better performance on the balance activities measured by the scale. However, a score of 19/56 remains well below the maximum: improvement should not be confused with complete recovery or proof that walking without assistance is safe.
The report records total scores, not the scores for each of the 14 activities. Therefore, these results alone do not tell us exactly which activities improved or how much assistance the patient currently needs for each task.
For families, the key message is:
"The balance score has improved from 3 to 19 out of 56. This shows progress in the activities assessed, but the rehabilitation team still needs to assess which movements require support and supervision."
For families
At Rehabana, we understand that every patient's family has one important question: "Is our patient really improving?"
Families often want to know whether their loved one's balance, safety and independence are getting better with rehabilitation.
Simply saying that a patient is improving may not always be enough. They also want to see evidence of that improvement.
For example, a patient who initially needs support while standing may gradually perform the activity independently. This functional improvement, together with a change in the assessment score, helps families understand the patient's progress.
This is where the Berg Balance Scale becomes useful.
Our approach
At Rehabana, we believe every improvement in balance matters.
From sitting safely to standing, reaching, turning and moving confidently, each activity provides valuable information about a patient's functional recovery.
Our approach focuses not only on improving assessment scores but also on helping patients become safer, more confident and more independent in their everyday lives.
FAQs
No. It is a non-invasive physical assessment involving simple movements such as sitting, standing, reaching and turning. Activities are performed under appropriate supervision.
Book an Assessment
Our physiotherapists assess balance, plan targeted training and review progress regularly at our Salt Lake and Kalighat centres in Kolkata.
