Binbrook, Ont., resident Pam Edgcumbe says she’ll miss the colleagues she partnered with regularly during her time with a fitness study aimed at helping older adults age at home.
The 73-year-old just finished the OPTIMAL Fitness study at the Les Chater YMCA and says the venture had many “practical ideas” she can use in her everyday life.
“I really could see the continual improvement of everyone through the four-month study,” Edgcumbe said.
“I know that 75 per cent of the participants in our class have already signed up for new programs … specifically designed for our age group at the Y.”
The deputy director of Hamilton Health Sciences GERAS Centre for Aging Research says mobility, strength and mood are the key elements in the examination.
“Participants basically will be assigned to one of three groups: usual activity, exercise only and deluxe model … (that) includes taking vitamin D protein shakes,” Dr. George Ioannidis told 900 CHML’s Good Morning Hamilton.
The free program sought out participants 65 years of age or older expressing concern over losing energy and strength as they age.
The study, still ongoing, assesses 10 four-month sessions over two years with some 300 participants fitting into one of three groups containing 11 people each.
Edgcumbe, who has two artificial hips, joined the initial groups in January and finished at the end of April.
She was placed into the third classification of candidates not only exercising but also taking the protein supplements.
Balance was Edgcumbe’s motivation for joining, concerned over the prospect of falling down and admitting getting dressed every morning has been difficult.
“We were taught how important balance is, from sitting properly and doing chair exercises to walking correctly with poles,” Edgcumbe recalled.
According to Ioannidis, the program includes a warm-up and one hour of exercise, twice a week.
Physiotherapists, from Upper James Physio, also assign one hour a week of homework for a total exercise component of three hours every seven days focused on strength, balance and cardio.
The end goal of the research is to craft techniques and programs to better mobilize seniors allowing them to carry everyday tasks without fail, like grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning.
“Through exercise programs like the one developed for this study, we may be able to help older adults live safely at home instead of entering long-term care,” Ioannidis said.
The next four-month block is expected to launch later in May, and participants are currently being recruited.
Ioannidis says the study will be wrapping up in the next year and a half with results expected in two years.
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