John Knox Village Residents Walk the Walk To Celebrate Active Aging
Marge Lindenbusch, 83, was just one of the dozens of assisted living, independent living, and skilled nursing residents at John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit, Mo., who recently participated in WALK! with Aegis Therapies, a celebration of active aging during the last week of September.
Lindenbusch joined in the walk around her John Knox community because she wants to stay active and avoid suffering from arthritis, which painfully plagued her own mother for years.
But there’s another reason Lindenbusch keeps in stride.
“This is fun,” she said as she followed behind her 93-year-old friend, Lois Riemath.
In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, walking not only has great health benefits, such as raising good cholesterol and lowering bad cholesterol, but it also helps manage high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis. Yet, also just as important, walking increases mood and energy boosters and improves emotional wellness.
“It all comes back to that old phrase ‘use it or lose it,’” said Chris Freytag, a nationally recognized fitness expert who made a guest visit to Lindenbusch and the other residents during the week-long celebration. “Mobility means quality of life.”
Freytag, who has written four fitness books and created dozens of fitness DVDs, enjoys working with all ages, but especially appreciates her work with seniors.
In addition to a daily walking exercise, each day of WALK! with Aegis Therapies incorporated other dimensions of wellness such as intellectual, emotional, spiritual, occupational and social wellness. The residents of John Knox Village specifically celebrated the spiritual dimension of wellness through guided meditation and relaxation led by Freytag prior to the walking activity.
Relaxed and focused, the residents were ready to walk and walked close to ¾ of a mile over the facility’s wooded campus to the independent living facility where they met additional residents for a rally.
Participants who could not walk engaged in other physical activities with the help of staff. Each day, the number of exercise participants performed was calculated to approximate the mileage they “walked” to recognize their involvement in active aging and healthy living among seniors.
Lindenbusch and Riemath were just two of thousands who participated in WALK! with Aegis Therapies nationwide at .skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and continuing care retirement communities. Together, a total of 601 John Knox Village residents participated, and they logged a total of 958 miles during the week-long event.
The award-winning, five-day health and wellness program featured walking and numerous other activities to encourage active aging and wellness. Freytag led walking activities not only in Kansas City, but also at various Aegis Therapies client locations across the country, including Minneapolis, Minn. and Daytona Beach, Fla.
To see the WALK! with Aegis Therapies activities at John Knox Village firsthand, please visit http://youtu.be/1TXdAcprLkE to view a video showcasing the fun had by participants.
“WALK! provided both an entertaining and active program for our residents to participate in,” said Rodney McBride, Vice President of Health and Community Services at John Knox Village. “We are very pleased with this year’s involvement and hope our residents will continue these wellness efforts into the future.”
Parts of this story were based on a Lee’s Summit Journal article titled “John Knox Village Celebrates Active Aging” published on September 29, 2011.