Seniors' program brings goodwill to center
Seniors’ program brings goodwill to center
Fitness group has more than 800 graduates’
More than 800 senior citizens have participated in the Young at Heart exercise program at Spaulding Cape Cod Hospital Rehab Center since the eight-week fitness program was begun two years ago.
In fact, the program is so popular that several "graduates" have come back to the center for training so they could conduct a similar program in their own community, says Jinx O’Loughlin, PT, center manager for the Hyannis, MA, outpatient center.
The program is presented free as a community service but has the added benefit of getting the hospital’s name well-known in the area, she says.
The eight-week program, held in the center’s conference room, is conducted three times a week by two rehab aides who visited similar programs at other hospitals for training. The 90-minute regime begins with warm-ups and stretches, followed by a brisk walk of about a mile. Participants then do strength training with light weights (one or two pounds, depending on the person’s condition), followed by more stretches and a cool-down period.
The purpose is to increase the strength and general liveliness of the participants, O’Loughlin says. Participants have to be cleared by a physician. The program can be adapted to patients with any unusual medical condition such as osteoporosis and for patients who are recovering from strokes and joint replacement surgery.
When the program began two years ago, the hospital’s community affairs office sent out announcements to local newspapers, senior citizens centers, and a local mall that sponsors a senior citizens’ walking program. Now, the only advertisement is word of mouth.
The program is so popular that the hospital now holds two groups at a time, one in the early morning and one at midday. The classes are limited to 15 people each and are always full. "People who have come to our program and don’t want to stop when the eight weeks are over have asked for training so they can lead a group closer to their homes. We’ve spun off into similar groups in other communities, in churches, and senior citizens centers and they’re all full," O’Loughlin says.
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