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Older adults who live in a select number of Edmonton seniors' residences attend a new fitness and health promotion program, Active Anytime Anywhere, thanks in part to the efforts of healthy aging resource nurse Dorothy Gilbey in Capital Health region.

Several years back, the lack of exercise programs for disadvantaged seniors incited Gilbey to pull together representatives from seniors' and other community organizations. Their goal was to find a way to provide exercise programs for seniors living in seniors residences and eligible for rent subsidies. Today, Active Anytime Anywhere, an 11-week two-session per week program, does just that, operating in 11 seniors' residences and drawing up to 25 participants for each combined exercise and health promotion session.

The program brings together community health nurses practicing in Capital Health and occupational and physical therapists from the region's Community Rehabilitation Program (CRP) into working partnerships. While registered nurses run health clinics in seniors' residences, CRP manages and operates Active Anytime Anywhere. Therapists bring their expertise to increase seniors' safety, assessing their homes for risk of falls and equipment needs such as rails. They also help seniors learn to use exercise bicycles and treadmills.

It's independent work yet "you learn very quickly to partner," says Gilbey, referring to the connections instrumental to her work. Her partnerships have introduced mini-buses in the southeast Edmonton Bonnie Doon neighbourhood to enable seniors to readily travel from residences to the supermarket and the mall. Senior volunteers assist at flu clinics, knitters create baby blankets and sweater sets for Health for Two, and one senior has knit expandable uteruses for pre-natal classes.

Gilbey has championed physical activity for seniors since 1988 and admits that meeting their needs is challenging. Many seniors aren't sure what they can do, fitness-wise. They often suffer chronic health conditions, have limited access to transportation or they may live 011 a very restricted income - all factors that prevent them from attending community fitness programs. Supports to encourage their participation in physical activity classes are crucial, says Gilbey. Active Anytime Anywhere was designed to overcome those barriers.

Each session has two components. Certified instructors lead fitness activities in the first hour and occupational and physical therapists teach health promotion topics in the second. Participants learn about arthritis, stress management, osteoporosis, depression, foot and back care and more. Three outings are also scheduled; groups often choose lawn or lane bowling, picnics, and swimming.

Active Anytime Anywhere was designed to encourage participants to make lifestyle changes and to maintain active living once the program is over, says program coordinator Lyne Bourassa. Social support, group work and time to socialize are built into the program, ingredients that encourage active living.

Nurses are integral to program promotion because they address physical activity at every health assessment says Gilbey. "We even encourage simple strategies like one neighbour picking up another on her way to class especially for those with memory problems who might forget to go."

The program is contained in an Older Adult Resource Kit sold by CRP. The health promotion component comes with outlines for each topic, facilitator tips, and information hand-outs. Nurses can present the program to seniors' groups with minimal preparation and confidence in the kit's material. A one-hour video that is a model of a fitness class can stand alone or be used by professional fitness leaders or seniors with physical fitness leader certification.

According to an evaluation conducted by Capital Health, participation in this three-year old program has helped seniors become more ambulatory - reducing their reliance on walkers and canes. Dorothy recalls one patient who had one leg in a cast but who continued to exercise and energetically kept the other three limbs in motion. Participants report decreased levels of depression and minimized effects of chronic physical conditions. Some sites even reported that smoking decreased, an unanticipated spin-off.

Capital Health's HART (Healthy Aging Resource Nurse Team) nurses will soon deliver a nutrition component with a nutrition risk assessment and weight management information. Plans are also underway to expand the program to more sites while searching for ways to meet costs.

As to Gilbey, her involvement in the steering committee for Active Anytime Anywhere has benefited disabled adults of all ages. She helped launch an exercise maintenance program for people with various disabilities - stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease - at a recreation centre in her daughter's community. These individuals had attended a therapeutic physical activity program but no follow-up maintenance program was in place. Her experience prompted her to suggest ways to attract recruits and the program currently operates at capacity.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:26 AM