Power Plate Helps Berkley Care Home Residents To Move With Confidence
Bespoke program to encourage healthy movement sees measurable improvements to independence, activities of daily living and fall prevention.
Throughout the pandemic, Power Plate donated a number of products to Berkley Care Group, to support and improve the wellbeing of both residents and staff through encouragement of healthy movement.
Together we developed a bespoke 12 week program to improve and maintain the fitness and mobility of elderly residents by stimulating natural reflexes, increasing muscle activation, and improving circulation. 6 Care Homes, each with between 35 and 78 beds were involved in the program.
Key outcomes were tracked over a 12-week period to show how specific evidence-based physical activity connects to key health benefits as well as improving quality of life; independence, confidence and social interaction.
Perhaps the most important finding of all was the link between vibration training and balance receptors - of which there are three main sources: eyes, muscles and joints, and vestibular organs.
Aging is associated with decreased balance, which increases the risk of falling and the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) training on limits of stability, and sit-to-stand performance among residents at Berkley Care Group has been profound - stimulating residents back into community activities and offering a new lease of life for those with limited mobility.
It has been heartwarming to learn that through the use of Power Plate some of the elderly residents that took part in the trial saw up to 85% improvement in mobility in a variety of exercises performed.
Case studies:
Winifred (Win) Cluer - age 92, Ryefield Court
Alan Howland - age 87, Leycester House
