Free online exercise classes for seniors
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When doors began closing and social distancing became a must for staying healthy, Abby Malott, Health and Wellness Coordinator at Stonebridge Community Services grew concerned.
Malott and her Health and Wellness team runs free weekly fitness classes for seniors in Tillsonburg and Norfolk areas.
“When life is ‘normal’ we run over 46 classes throughout Norfolk County and Tillsonburg every week,” said Malott. “That’s myself and our other instructors as well.
“We know that people do come to our classes to exercise, but also come in large part to socialize. We didn’t want to stop running the classes all together. We wanted to give the people the opportunity to still have exercise and physical activity in their day when they’re at home. And also to find ways to connect with them.
“Our participants rely heavily on these programs to stay active, mobile and socially engaged as they age,” said Malott.
Malott quickly moved to social media to share her fitness classes online.
“We’ve been using lots of different platforms to try to reach out to all of our clients and participants during this time of social isolation.
“Now our seniors are able to continue exercising in the comfort of their own home while keeping themselves safe.”
Visit Stonebridge Community Services on Facebook and YouTube to see the exercise videos.
“We are also working on more interactive ways to keep everyone motivated and moving in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for live streaming options as well as more videos being posted to our YouTube channel,” said Malott.
“We live stream three days a week through Zoom, and then we live stream twice a week through Facebook Live (starting Tuesday). And YouTube.”
Connection is also made through emails, and they will be calling all 350-400 participants every couple of weeks to do phone check-ins and make sure everyone is okay.
Stonebridge Community Services is a not for profit organization providing in-home health care and preventative health services designed to help people maintain good health and independence through the aging process. Stonebridge services are available to everyone in the community and are designed to enhance or support a wide range of health services. For more information visit www.stonebridgecs.com online or call 519-842-3200.
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