Moving more

Helping residents and staff become healthier and happier individuals is the aim of the Move More program offered at Sunset Residential.

The purpose of the Move More Physical Activity Basics program is on building daily physical activity into your everyday lifestyle, instructor Mary Purdy of Innergy Fitness and Healthy Seminars said.

Finding out what works for you helps participants understand the importance and benefits of physical activity. It targets participants who are ready to make a change in their lifestyle, but dont know where to start, she said.

Move More is an eight-week program with topics including stress, motivation, barriers, self-esteem and discovering community activity opportunities.

Staff was encouraged to participate by executive director Mary Ellen Pittoello who purchased the program for each of them.

Pittoello, who has worked in healthcare her entire life, realizes the strain put on workers through handling and lifting clients on a daily basis. By becoming more active and more fit, it helps them to guard against injuries and allows them to live a healthier lifestyle away from the job as well.

In addition, if residents are healthier, they are less apt to be affected by illness and this takes some of the strain off them and in the long run off the healthcare system.

In this program, the participants get to try a host of activities to hopefully find one they like and can continue with it, Purdy said.

It gives them something to look forward, allows them to build new bonds with people they work with and hopefully find an activity to take part in outside of here.

Activities that were offered during the eight-week program included Tai Chi, yoga, ball exercises, meditation, relaxation; body sculpting and next week there will be a class on belly dancing. Other areas to be discussed include nutrition and stress management, two areas of expertise for Purdy.

This (Move More) is a program designed by the Heart and Stroke Foundation in partnership with Nova Scotia Health Promotion and Protection and Recreation Nova Scotia, Purdy said.

It provides basic information on physical activity targeted at participants who are not currently active or who were formerly active and looking to become active once more.



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