Sheila Lindsay doesn’t realize she’s part of a new initiative at the Village of Riverside Glen designed to get its residents moving more during the day.
She only knows she moves – she wears a pedometer so staff can track how far she walks in a day – and she supposes she’s moving more since she started volunteering at dinner time, she said.
From her perspective, she’s just helping out in the dining room, setting the tables for dinner, replacing the fresh flowers each week, and serving up meals for residents.
“I didn’t think I could do it,” she said with a grin. “I proved me wrong.”
Lindsay and her husband Wilbur have lived at Riverside Glen for three years and Lindsay is a glowing example of a new initiative for residents called Move More.
Exercise programs are great, said Lora Bruyn-Martin, Innovation and Integration lead for Schlegel Villages, which owns Riverside Glen. But studies show that if you return to a chair for the rest of the day, prolonged sitting can almost cancel the benefits of exercise.
“Even if you exercise, if you are sedentary the rest of the time, you are at risk of cancer, heart disease and other lifestyle diseases,” she said. “So this is my focus, to get residents moving more. It’s an easier sell than the ‘e’ word – exercise.”
The research comes from the Research Institute for Aging, a joint initiative between Schlegel Villages and the University of Waterloo. Bruyn-Martin said hospitals have similar programs to get their elderly patients out of bed and moving as soon as possible.
“That has shown to have great benefit,” she said. “Just moving has so many benefits to all the body systems.”
Bruyn-Martin said all the villages at Schlegel Villages have a kinesiologist on staff who oversees group and one-on-one exercise programs and programs for active living for residents.
Bruyn-Martin doesn’t want to start a new program, but rather encourage staff, residents and their families to work-in other activities that get residents moving during the course of their day.
In Linday’s case, she asked the casual question, what would happen if no one was here to serve lunch?
“Someone said, 'why don’t you do it?' and the idea was born,” said Luke Denomme, director of recreation at Riverside Glen. “So she served her peers.”
“All the residents light up when Sheila is serving,” said Bryce McBain, general manager.
It will take a culture shift among staff to make it happen, Bruyn-Martin said. It’s not natural for paid staff to invite residents help them mop floors or fold laundry or wheel other residents to the dining hall for meals.
But these are exactly the kinds of activities that get people on their feet and using their brains and muscles in useful, purposeful activities. The boost to self-esteem and sense of purpose is another benefit.
Lindsay would beam when staffed praise her efforts and she was especially proud that they had adopted some of her suggestions for streamlining operations.
“If I didn’t do this, I would never know how to do this,” she said. “I feel good when they tell me I did a good job.”
Training is underway for staff to think about ways to include residents in day-to-day tasks, said Bruyn-Martin. There will also be targeted information sessions for residents and their families.
“For families, don’t just sit and have tea,” she said. “Try to add movement into your visit.”
Bruyn-Martin said one of the homes had a batch of eggs from a local farm delivered in the spring and every day residents would go and see if they had hatched. It was a hit.
Other villages have tried other things to get their residents on their feet more often, even for a minute or two.
“Each village will be different,” Bruyn-Martin said. “I’m so thrilled with how passionate the team members have become.”
