HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1996-10-16, Page 13cond Section - October 16 1996
Wellness clinics rniniiiizes impact of aging
Instructors will present findings at Gerontological Annual Meeting in Quebec City
Showing the camera the many benefits of using dynabands for strengthening are left to
right, Lynn Welsh, Sandra Pearson, Colleen Black, Cheryl Curtis, Theresa Goris, Sheila
Glann, Angela Clarke. Mising from picture is Rhea Vanderloo. . This exercise is one that will
be shown in Quebec City
By Heather Mir
T -A Reporter
MIDDLESEX COUNTY - Seniors in
Middlesex are benefitting from 16 Wellness
Clinics set up throughout the county by the
Victorian Order of Nurses.
The VON HOMME (Helping Others
Maintain Middlesex Elders) program formed
a partnership with the University of Western
Ontario's Centre for Activity and Ageing in
London to create a plan that would train
volunteers to instruct exercise
programs.
The program has been so
successful the VON is sending
seven Wellness instructors to
Quebec City where they will be co -
presenting at the Canadian
Gerontological Annual Meeting,
October 18. In addition to the
instructors, 'HOMME Coordinator Cheryl
Curtis and Nancy Eccelstone, Executive
Director of the Centre for Activity and
Ageing will also be attending.
The Wellness Clinics were created after
seniors in the county identified the
importance of keeping fit. The Centre helped
set up these pilot projects nearly a year and a
half ago and now they are becoming self-
supporting clinics that operate with minimal
funding.
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound
of cure. Why not keep us from getting sick,
so you don't have to look after us!" one senior
told the VON.
Volunteers to instruct the clinics are
recruited by the VON and trained by the
centre. Following certification? the 20
iststructots facilitate exeteise ::.
programs throughout the county.
Today, more than 250 seniors are
exercising with the weekly
programs.
"Our oldest leader is 75 years old
CANADA and she doesn't miss a beat," said
Jackie Wells, manager of Middlesex
VON volunteer programs. "Exercise
generally makes 14 fun and enjoyable.
Perhaps this is why these Wellness Programs
are in such demand."
The Centre has encouraged the volunteer
instructors to be seniors who can act as peer
Enlarge family or team photos to 8-112x11 or even 11 x 17 instantly
with our outstanding results. Ideal for business presentation materials,
even colour transparencies
role models.
Studies show regular exercise increases
balance, reducing the risk of falls, as well
as muscle strength. The instructors are
taught how to lead safe exercise programs
that have been proved to reduce the aging
process. Each volunteer is a highly
motivated, outgoing person with a great
personality says Wells.
The Wellness programs developed out of
experiments that started at the Centre in the
late 1980's to evaluate the impact of
exercise on the aging population. Studies
show people over the age of 65, even those
who had led a sedentary life, could make
similar improvements to a much younger
person. The Centre's experiments
demonstrated seniors who participated in
exercise programs increased their
cardiovascular fitness, muscle mass and
strength as well as respiratory fitness and
flexibility.
"The idea behind these exercise
programs is to reduce the amount of time
the general population spends in dependent
care," said Gareth Jones, exercise
physiologist at the Centre. "Keep the
person as functionally mobile as long as
possible."
ith a9 icreasing proportion of older
wit.* w msn in Western society, it is
important to keep people as ihdependent as
long as possible. This reduces the strain on
our health care system and is a way to
increase the enjoyment of older age.
Although aging is determined
physiologically, the pattern of decline can
be levelled through exercise. For this
reason, the Centre and VON volunteers
promote a change in social attitudes.
Senior are no longer told to "take it easy"
but rather keep moving to maintain a
healthier, active lifestyle as long as
possible.
AGING FACTS
• One in nine people is over the
age of 65 and it is predicted by
2020 nearly one in five will be age
65 or more
• Health care payments for the
elderly are expected to jump as the
baby boomers reach 65 years
• A recent study
showed only one
in three healthy
79 -year-old
women is able to
walk fast enough
to cross a 30 -meter
road
• By age 65 we
may have lost 30 to 40 per cent of
our functional abilities at age 25
• It has been estimated 50 per cent
of the age-related loss in function
may actually be due to inactivity
• Age related changed can be
affected greatly by the activeness
of our lifestyle and exercise
programs for older persons are
effective.
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