Spotlight on Health and Fitness: Seniors Take a Day in May to Learn More About Staying Active.
By Margaret Slaby, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Jun. 14–At 9 a.m. on National Senior Health and Fitness Day, it’s business as usual in the fitness room at Fairwinds Woodward Park, a senior independent living community.
Instructor Jessica McCune leads a group through a 30-minute full-body workout called Stretch, Balance and Breathe.
Downstairs, however, there’s something new this Wednesday morning in May.
Vendor tables are spread throughout the lobby offering free blood-pressure and cholesterol screenings as well as information on orthotic shoes, mobility classes and allergies.
“This gives us a better understanding of what’s on the market,” says Fairwinds resident Margaret Chin as she wanders from table to table. “I want to be informed about the latest in health care.”
The health fair, open to the public, was Fairwinds’ way of participating in the 14th annual National Senior Health and Fitness Day.
The day, organized by the Mature Market Resource Center, is held the last Wednesday in May as part of Older Americans Month. Tina Godin, in her 13th year as program manager, says about 1,000 sites nationwide, including retirement communities and health clubs, participated.
“It’s all about getting seniors involved and more active, and educating them on the benefits of exercise and that it’s never too late to start,” Godin says.
Fairwinds has celebrated the day for six years, activities coordinator Jodi Van Beurden says.
Fairwinds resident John Nute, 96, attended the health fair to get his blood pressure checked. Arline Dixon, 89, was there for the same reason. A big smile crossed Dixon’s face as Chandra Deal, a registered nurse with Maxim Health Systems, told her, “You have the blood pressure of a 20-year- old.”
Dixon’s reading was 109/54. She attributes it to being active.
Fairwinds resident Lois Suglian, 93, also believes in the benefits of exercise.
“I’ve exercised all my life,” Suglian says. “I love to exercise. I can’t help it. If I’m not active, I get ornery. I think exercise is why I am the age I am.”
While the focus of National Senior Health and Fitness Day was on the physical side of things at Fairwinds, it was all about the brain at San Joaquin Gardens retirement community. A ceremony for the first graduating class of the community’s Posit Science brain fitness program was held.
Posit Science is a San Francisco-based company. The brain fitness program, which uses computer-based exercises to increase the speed and accuracy with which the adult brain processes information, is offered through subscription.
Eleven students completed the eight-week, 40-hour course at San Joaquin Gardens. Eighteen are enrolled in a course that started June 4.
“You have to improve yourself mentally and physically,” graduate Ray Haworth, 80, says.
Haworth helped start the first physical fitness class at San Joaquin Gardens about nine years ago. “As you age, you begin to deteriorate. Classes like [Posit Science] slow down the deterioration. This is exercise for your brain. It stretches your brain to concentrate more, listen better.”
San Joaquin Gardens has participated in National Senior Health and Fitness Day in the past but always focused on the physical. Teresa Beshwate, the community’s healthy living consultant, says this year they wanted “to take a different spin on the day.”
“We wanted to focus on, ‘Yeah, it’s a part of health and wellness,’ ” Beshwate says of brain fitness.
The reporter can be reached at mslaby@fresnobee.com or at (559) 441-6758.
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