Our Wellbeing Client of the Season Award is an opportunity for us to celebrate our clients’ achievements and determination, and to inspire more people to seek help if they need it.
Staying Active
This season we are celebrating Marilyn, who has persevered and stayed determined throughout her 8-week active Exercise at Home programme.
Marilyn is 77 years old with poor mobility. Marilyn lives on her own and during the pandemic felt very isolated. She was hospitalised with COVID and now suffers from bouts of fatigue. Along with arthritis in her knees this accelerated the decline in her mobility.
When she initially started the programme, Marilyn scored 11 out of 56 on the Berg Balance Scale (used to objectively determine a patient’s ability, or inability, to safely balance during a series of predetermined tasks), and it was evident that her exercise threshold was low. Marilyn had not been out in her back garden for over 2 years and her goal was to go there and sit outside. Despite these issues Marilyn remained positive and was determined to improve her movement and capacity to exercise. We started off with gentle seated exercises with plenty of mini breaks to aid recovery and gradually Marilyn’s stamina increased meaning we could introduce more movements as we progressed.
Marilyn persevered and was diligent in practicing exercises daily. Due to her arthritis this could be painful and so on those days she practiced small leg holds to strengthen the legs as they were kinder on the joints.
On the 7th week the weather was sunny, and Marilyn managed to step outside into her garden with the aid of her trolley. The moment was both a celebration and a slight disappointment. A celebration because she had made it into the garden and a disappointment because it wasn’t quite as she had envisioned. She was too tired to sit down and then get up again.
On the 8th week Marilyn managed to double her Berg Balance Scale from 11 to 22 points.  Doubling your score on the assessment is a rarity and is a testament to her hard work.
Marilyn did an amazing job of doubling her score and partially achieved her goal of going into her back garden. Despite her difficulties Marilyn remained upbeat and determined throughout. Well done Marilyn!
