We hope you are here because you live with or work with frailer older people. You no doubt have an interest in helping people remain as independent as possible by supporting them to move more often. This learning programme makes use of resources developed as part of the Care about Physical Activity (CAPA) programme which was run by Scotland’s Care Inspectorate, together with other online videos and resources. This learning programme was developed by Professor Dawn Skelton at Glasgow Caledonian University for CAPA. A full report of the CAPA programme can be seen here.
1) We mainly want residents and frailer older people, wherever they live, to have the opportunity and understanding of why moving more (being physically active) will help their physical, mental and social health. Also why working on moving more often is important to help maintain independence in everyday activities of daily life. To do this we need to
2) Build the culture of care - helping frailer older people receiving care to sit less and move more is EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS. Be this managers, staff, family and friends, cleaners, caterers or maintenance workers! If everyone talks about moving more often, and finds ways to support older people to move a bit more, and move a bit more themselves, it will become culturally normal. We all have our part to play in improving the lives of frailer older people. Helping people to practice and move more in their activities of daily living (re-enabling) rather than doing things for people is vital.
3) Build and extend community links. Whether someone is in a care home, or receiving care at home, or attending a day care centre and so on, there is often a pattern of losing links with their community. To maintain social, emotional and spiritual health, these links are vital. Through these links there will often be more opportunities for movement. Keeping active therefore helps build resilience and maintains links to local communities.
We hope you find this course interesting and pick up new ideas for action and perhaps use your knowledge to enthuse others to help frailer older people reach their full potential of being active, independent and engaged in their own lives.
You will complete 6 modules covering:
You will spend approximately 1 hour online for each module (you can do a bit then come back to it later).
Each module includes some additional resources and links if you want to know more and finishes with a few reflective questions at the end.
The modules you will cover are:
Module 1 – Introduction to the ideas behind the Care About Physical Activity Programme and further resources provided to support physical activity in care settings
Module 2 - Common ailments and how these affect frail people’s activity levels
Module 3 - Does more activity mean more falls? Keeping people safe and mobile
Module 4 - Ideas for action - Successful case studies in a range of settings, abilities and for those with dementia
Module 5 - Carers' voices, what benefits they see when older people become more active
Module 6 - Voices of older people, what being active means to them
You decide when and where to do the modules, in your break, at home etc - as long as you have access to a computer/tablet. However, you must complete the brief test at the end of each module in order to receive a certificate on completion of all 6 modules.
We hope you enjoy taking this course and find you have found out something new that you can use in your work to support older people moving more often. So make a start by clicking on the programme title to the left, then choosing Module 1.
Enjoy!
Dawn Skelton, Professor of Ageing and Health
Glasgow Caledonian University