Programme: South Dublin
WHO Theme: Community Support and Health Services
Cost: 10000+
Status: Ongoing
Description
Active Age fitness class is a low intensity, low impact strength and cardio session. This class is designed specifically to keep the body fit and active for over 55’s and offers many benefits to attendees.
The aim of the programme is to provide a welcoming environment with dedicated times class times for older adults to participate in exercise, under the instruction of our highly trained fitness professionals.
As well as offering a safe space for participants to engage in physical exercise, it also provides an outlet for Socialising with others whilst maintaining a link to their local community.
Aim of Initiative
Our goal is to expose participants to regular strengthening exercises and resistance training. This will help to prevent osteoporosis by stimulating the growth of muscle and bone. This is because exercise can reduce bone loss and helps to conserve remaining bone tissue.
Exercise that builds muscle endurance, known as resistance training, can help older adults to preserve their independence and quality of life. It can help to overcome the loss of muscle mass and strength, build resilience, ease the management of chronic conditions, and reduce physical vulnerability.
Benefits of attending our Active Age fitness classes also include indirectly enhancing your general health by improving your fitness, posture, muscle strength, reaction time, mobility, balance, and coordination. In addition to the physical benefits, we believe one of the biggest attributes the class offers is the social interaction which is imperative to promoting healthy mental wellbeing.
Who is it aimed at
The initiative is for adults aged 55+
We offer the programme to Members and Non Members of our Local Communities. The class is designed to facilitate participants of all different fitness levels. Our instructors are on hand to motivate and challenge each participant, whilst also offering support, encouragement and a range of modifications to exercises based on the participants abilities.
3 Steps critical to success
- Identifying adequate resources/infrastructure:
Sufficient well-ventilated space
Accessibility
Equipment
Qualified fitness instructors
Booking System
Advertising - Offering and maintaining financially feasible rates for participants with the highest customer service:
South County Dublin Leisure Services prides itself on offering flexible membership options to best suit an individuals needs. Our over 55’s can avail of our full single membership at a special reduced rate. Pay as you Go Member’s may also avail of very competitive rates.
Our classes facilitate 40 people per class. The group is typically broken up into 3 groups, where each group will be led by one of our instructors. This allows us to offer intimate segments of a class which allow staff to discretely address any contraindications which may arise with participants and also offers reassurance to participants who may be shy, apprehensive, and or visually or hearing impaired.
- Expansion
When the initiative commenced in 2006, we offered approx 18 available spaces per class per site. We offered 1 class per week to the General public. Our Active Age classes were initially held in our Gym area and Fitness studio. This meant we had constraints in terms of space and equipment.
During Covid Lockdown we were inundated with calls from lots of members, particularly Active Age participants. The general consensus amongst our users were feelings of isolation, sedentary and fear. They expressed how much they missed their weekly fitness class and highlighted their anguish of not been able return once restrictions permitted.
We proactively tackled these concerns and moved the class to our Full-size Sports Hall. This created an abundance of space which would allow participants to exercise in a controlled and safe environment. The response to the class was exceptional and we gradually increased the capacity and number of classes we offer based on the demand.
3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery
- Space Constraints
As stated in Step 3* -Steps that were critical for the success of the initiative.
Pre Covid we operated our Active Age classes in our Gym and Fitness studio. This offered a lot less floor space and did not allow us to accommodate the number of participants we are currently facilitating.
- Technology: Online booking and Advance Booking
Pre Covid-Lockdown, an online software programme was purchased which allowed our users the power to book and manage their bookings through our online portal.
With reduced capacity and essential prebooking vital after Covid restrictions had lifted, it was imperative that we managed our booking thoroughly. This was offered through our online platform or via telephone with card payments. This proved a challenge for some of our users who were not accustomed to such technology and those who did not have access to card payment methods.
We did accept cash payments, but this compromised usage management as we had Active Age participants arriving on site when we had already reached max capacity quotas for classes.
- Obtaining regular and up to date medical information for class participants.
As the class is open to the public, we are susceptible to having new faces every single class. Despite carrying out a verbal screening at the start of each class, it is evident through chat with clients that their medical and health conditions can change intermittently. It is not always easily to obtain adequate Dr clearance for our users. This is something we are conscious of in the event of a medical emergency.
Our staff are trained in Basic First Aid and First Responder Training in the event of a medical emergency.
3 Outcomes / Benefits
- We have successfully created an accessible and attainable programme to facilitate older adults participating in regular physical exercise in our communities. We are committed to offering such services to help mature people in our localities reap the health rewards from doing physical activity.
- Through regular participation and growth in confidence, a lot of our Active Age participants have migrated to mainstream Fitness classes which we offer for users of 17yrs +.
These classes include Aqua Aerobics, Pilates, Strength & Tone and Flexible Strength. We will always encourage participation in other areas of our Facility to promote rest and recovery. This includes use of our Pool which offers over 15 designated Over 55’s swims per week across both sites.
- We have established a friendly environment where users not only come to avail of our Active Age classes, but can come and engage with our staff and users alike. Our centres offer a safe space which enables and promote social interaction and mental wellbeing. We believe such interaction will motivate and encourage them to attend our facilities on a long term basis.
Through stringent scheduled hygiene and maintenance checks, our mature users are comforted and assured by the safety and accessibility of our facilities. This includes good lighting, non-slip walking surfaces, lifts and adequate stairway handrails.
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