Exercise classes proven to give care home residents extra Oomph!

provide training and support to staff in care homes to allow them to deliver personalised exercise programmes to residents.

Providing classes that are created to stimulate the mind, body and soul of care home residents, with modern music and chair-based activities. Oomph! recognises that only seven per cent of UK adults over 75 are getting their recommended amount of activity.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends older people with mobility problems complete at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on at least three separate occasions each week.

Founder of Oomph!, Ben Allen, said: “Our classes don’t just exercise the body: they help to build confidence, strengthen relationships and create a positive atmosphere that staff and residents really engage with. We see this every day in our classes, but it’s fantastic to start to quantify the benefits.

“The very fact that we are able to put together an Annual Impact Report is a huge step forward for us as a company and the sector as a whole. With so much talk about evidence-based interventions we can clearly show our partners the impact their trained staff are having every single day.”

Celebrating a successful first annual report, the social enterprise has provided more than 16,000 Oomph! classes to more than 278,000 residents in the last year since April 2014.

The company has trained almost 500 instructors throughout the UK and reports an almost 10 per cent improvement in the quality of life experienced by residents during three months’ worth of classes.

Almost 80 per cent of staff trained by Oomph! reported that the training had increased their job satisfaction. In addition, care staff using Oomph! reported an 81 per cent increase in social interactions between residents, as well as an almost 60 per cent improvement in physical mobility.

WCS Care Group, have Oomph! trained instructors in all of their homes. Chief executive of the group, Christine Asbury said: “It is invigorating for the staff, residents and their families too. We are seeing even more interaction, fun and laughter in our homes, which is a key element of our culture and benefits staff and customers alike. We haven’t seen anything in living memory that has created such a positive response from people – residents, families and staff!”

Age UK report that there are 10.3 million people aged 65 and over in the UK and this figure is expect to increase by 65 per cent to 16.4 million by 2033.

More than 8,000 older people are care home residents throughout the UK, a figure that has increased by more than 20 per cent between 2005 and 2013.

Gwen Anderson of Queen’s Bay Lodge, Edinburgh, was voted the Oomph! Instructor of the Year during 2014. She said: “I love being an Oomph! Instructor – the residents know me as ‘Mrs Oomph!’. It’s a delight for me to see how passionate they are and how they embrace it. It’s just wonderful. I’ve seen first-hand how Oomph! makes people happy.”

Regular exercise or physical activity in older adults has been proven to improve mental and physical health, as well as improve mobility, help with dementia care management and help reduce the number of falls. Frequent activity could also help improve resident’s quality of life and reduce pressure sores.

Mr Allen added: “It's been an incredible year and we’re humbled by the achievements of the amazing care home staff we support. What excites me is to build on this success next year: we have new products – including our Activities Leadership Licence – new partnerships and of course a commitment to transforming the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of older adults next year.”