From the Summer 2010 Newsletter
The following is just one iitem included in the Summer 2010 Newsletter. If you want to read more, you can download the newsletter here.
OSTEO LEADERS GET FIT, GIVE BACK
Want to stay fit but finding it hard to commit to getting regular exercise? Join our team of Osteo Leaders and develop an exercise routine you can stick with! Demand for the RSVP Osteoporosis Exercise Program is at an all-time high and we need more people to train to be leaders. This is a peer-leadership program. You don’t have to be a body builder or an ultramarathoner – leaders are regular people who enjoy being active and like being with people. Current leaders say that doing this work is a great way to exercise on a regular basis and keep fit.
For over 12 years, the RSVP Osteoporosis Exercise Program has successfully helped hundreds of seniors stay active and exercise weekly. Classes are led by trained RSVP volunteers. Class leaders receive an initial 12 hour training in order to be qualified to conduct the classes. Each leader also attends Quarterly Training meetings held at the Hadley Senior Center in July, October, January and April where we share new information on exercise, nutrition and wellness is presented. The leaders then pass along this new information to the participants in the classes which meet weekly in Hampshire and Franklin County locations. Currently, sixteen classes are meeting weekly or twice weekly and new leaders are needed to act as substitutes or to lead newly forming classes.
On Thursday, July 15th, the RSVP Osteoporosis Exercise Class Leaders will meet for the Quarterly Training, featuring John Yount, PT, MS, GCS. John is a physical therapist, and geriatric specialist at the VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and has over 20 years of experience working with seniors, primarily in home care. He is currently the coordinator of Strength in Numbers—a Fall Prevention Program, and presents this program in senior centers throughout the area. Since the RSVP Osteoporosis Program helps seniors work on balance, John will be training leaders to use an assessment tool that measures the exercise class participants’ increased strength and balance.
If you are interested in exercise and health and have an extra hour or two each week, we would love to hear from you. We need people to act as substitutes or lead newly forming classes. Please call Pat or Megan at 584-1300 x8 for more information.