active ageing
The challenges of serving an older demographic
Over half of Wellington Health and Fitness Club’s 2,500 private members are over 50, with 820 of those aged 59-79 and 136 aged 80-95. The club’s 50+ group, ‘The Invincibles’, has 490 members who meet three times a week to exercise and socialise.
“Some members are no longer very mobile or have the onset of dementia and struggle getting on and off the kit and remembering which piece to use next. We owe them a duty of care, as well as to our other members and staff, who could also be injured if they were to fall,” says Ian Davis, commercial manager of Wellington College Enterprises, which manages the club.
“Activity plays a vital part of their week and their overall wellbeing, but providing a safe environment puts a huge onus on our staff.”
Berkshire Health Authority’s Community Mental Health Team has helped staff identify early signs of dementia and how to deal with it, but Davis has struggled to find other suitable training.
Wellington College has used Precor equipment for over 15 years. Among its considerations for staying with Precor is familiarity. “It wasn’t the deciding factor, but the Precor consoles and equipment are intuitive and easy for The Invincibles to use,” says Davis
network of fitness sector leaders, companies and stakeholders such as the CBI and Institute of Directors to share insight and best practice on the barriers to building an active workplace and addressing dangerous levels of sedentary behaviour at work.
going to require a cultural transformation of perceptions towards ageing and, for our sector, a physical transformation of the facilities, products, services, programmes and expertise we offer,” says Ward.
active workplaces Reimagining Ageing recommends changes to the physical activity sector’s infrastructure. One example is working more closely with businesses to create active workplaces that build exercise into the working day. This may seem irrelevant to the retired population, but working longer is increasingly common and research shows frailty and pre-frailty are now increasingly common in people of working age; pre-frailty occurs in a third of British adults aged 50-65. Both are preventable conditions that can be improved by increased fitness. The report proposes bringing together a
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pactfacilities.co.uk
The same Precor console is used across the club’s CV equipment making it straight forward when changing between the treadmill, bike, EFX and Adaptive Motion Trainer.
“One of our members, who’s over 80 and visits three times a week, is totally engaged with the kit, setting goals and tracking his workouts with Preva’s personal accounts. Changing our provider would have a massive impact as he’d have to learn new technology as well as different consoles.”
www.precor.com
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