Resident activities
Active ageing and strength training benefits in care homes
Trevor Donald of SportsMed Products, which recently worked with the University of Stirling on a study about resistance training in frail adults, explains the benefits of strength exercise for care home residents
As we age, most of us will notice age-related muscle loss, a disorder known as sarcopenia. Experts believe that we begin to lose as much as five per cent of muscle per decade after the age of 30.
Less muscle means greater weakness
and reduced mobility, meaning the risk of falls and fractures increase. While one cannot underplay the physical impact of increased muscle weakness and therefore falls risk, the mental impact of ageing must also be considered.
According to Age UK, falls are the most common cause of injury related deaths in people over the age of 75 with over 5,000 older people dying as a result of a fall in 2017, a 70 per cent increase on the numbers in 2010.
Therefore, it is not surprising that in a
recent survey Age UK found that millions of older people are likely to be worried that they may fall over, with 36 per cent of respondents saying it topped their list of concerns. With the huge rise in fall-related deaths,
we cannot be shocked that there is so much fear around falling. Despite this fear, however, there are only a small number of retirement communities and care homes in the UK that offer the facilities to enable their residents to regain the strength they need. It is perhaps surprising that strength
training has not been implemented further in care homes if you consider the UK chief medical officer’s 2019 Public Activity Guidelines specifically state that adults aged 65-plus “should maintain or improve their physical function by undertaking activities
32 Is it too late to act?
So, what can be done and is it too late to regain muscle and reduce falls risk if we have been losing muscle mass since the age of 30? Although it would be ideal to maintain strength throughout life, the University of Birmingham has released a study, published in Frontiers in Physiology. The research was carried out on two groups of seniors in their 70s and 80s. One group were lifelong exercisers while the other had never taken part in structured exercise programmes. The results showed that there was no change in the ability to build muscle mass between the groups. So, the good news is the answer is somewhat simple: to reduce muscle loss, start strength training now!
aimed at improving or maintaining muscle strength, balance and flexibility on at least two days per week.”
The reference to strength is to differentiate it from other forms of exercise, all of which have value, but the suggestion is that strength training has very significant value and will often be the foundation to improving an ability to perform activities of daily living independently - or as independently as possible.
Considering the strong evidence that strength or resistance training can increase or maintain muscle mass and therefore reduce the risk of falls, it is frustrating to see many care homes and retirement communities stating they do not need to do strength training as their residents are too frail or that they do training, which consists of moving around a bit or using resistance bands only.
University of Stirling study Historically, strength has often been overlooked by both researchers and the retirement sector. However, we recently worked in association with the University of Sterling on a study about resistance training in frail adults, which again shows the benefits of strength or resistance training.1 For the study, 11 frail older adults aged
65 years and above completed a six-week, machine-based resistance training protocol three times a week. Uptake and retention were greater than 80 per cent. The analysis indicated large improvements in functional capacity, frailty, and strength in the intervention group compared with controls again, which showed it is never too late to start resistance training! When we first installed our HUR strength
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com February 2022
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