Care home residents channelling their ‘inner Olympian’ in bid to reduce falls

‘The Senior Games’ will see qualified instructors visit nine care homes over the next few months with residents taking part in chair-based exercises to classic songs to help improve their health and prevent falls. There will also be a chance for residents to take part in competitive games, such as foam javelin throwing, tin-can alley and golf putting. The programme is open to all care home residents, including those living with dementia.

Participants’ physical fitness, mobility and how anxious they feel about falling will be measured at the start and end of the 12-week period. It is hoped residents will improve in each of the measurements so they see longer term health and wellbeing improvements and less falls, which will ease the pressure on health and social care services.

The programme is funded and organised by Swindon Borough Council’s Public Health department working with the Wiltshire & Swindon Sports Partnership and members of the Swindon Falls Collaboration.

A celebration event will take place at Foundation Park next to the County Ground in January to bring care home residents together with secondary school pupils having the chance to join in, and award medals and trophies.

It is hoped the success of the project will result in funding being obtained to run more Senior Games sessions in care homes across Swindon. The Council has been invited to share the learning and best practice from the programme at a national level.

On average 348 people per month are admitted to the Great Western Hospital with a fall. Many of whom are care home residents.

Susan Lambert, Public Health Specialist at Swindon Borough Council, said: “This project links directly into the aims of our Swindon Falls and Bone Health Strategy, and is targeting the most elderly and frail members of our community who are heavy users of health and social care services.

“People can reduce their risk of having a fall by carrying out a number of simple, yet effective actions around the home, such as immediately mopping up spillages, removing clutter and wearing well-fitting shoes or slippers.

“In this project, we will work with people of all abilities, to ensure the project is inclusive. The Love to Move chair-based exercise session is accredited by the British Gymnastics Association and is dementia friendly. Classic well-known songs are used to accompany the exercise session, which encourages the use of different parts of the brain.

“So far residents and care staff are enjoying taking part and feeling the benefits of more physical activity and a chance to get moving, just because you get older, does not mean you are not fiercely competitive. We are asking residents to unleash their ‘inner Olympian’ in the games after the exercises!”

Councillor Jim Grant, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Joint Working, said: “This is a fantastic programme. We know that falls are not only costly to the health and social care economy, but can lead to further health issues and even death.

“At a national level, falls are thought to be the most common injury that results in death for people aged 65 and over. Each year, care and treatment relating to falls cost the NHS more than £2bn, which is equivalent to a daily spend of approximately £6m.”

"In 2020/21, 195 people aged 65 years and over were admitted to the Great Western Hospital with a hip fracture. This equates to an estimated cost of care of around £3.2m per year to treat these 195 people, according to the Royal Osteoporosis Society’s estimated costings of a fractured neck of femur to health and social care organisations."