Owner of at-home care company Home Instead Senior Care in Kirklees, James Little has been entertaining the elderly in his local area with a chair-based version of the latest fitness craze: Zumba. By using familiar music and low-impact, fun routines, James has recently delivered at The Four Seasons Care Home in Almondbury which proved just how much of a difference a song and dance can make.
Home Insteads’ primary role is delivering at-home care for older people in the area. However, James is passionate about the positive impact of Zumba and has teamed up with tALk active, an exercise organisation based in Holmfirth in order to deliver classes for older people in residential homes and assisted living facilities across the area.
The Alzheimer’s Society recently put James in touch with the Four Seasons Care, a residential home that specialises in providing care for those with advanced dementia. After taking song requests, James & the tALk active team held a very successful Zumba class to some poptastic hits as well as some true classics! From Cliff Richard and The Beatles to Vivaldi and Chopin, the music was eclectic to say the least.
James commented, “It is important for people of all ages to remain active, and for those who are affected by dementia, music is well-known to be a wonderful trigger for the memory. In order to ensure the music was particularly poignant, we took requests from residents, family and staff. This gave us some great detail about the backgrounds of residents. One gentleman used to play classical piano. It was fantastic to see how relaxed he become when we played Chopin!”
James and tALk active have been organising chair-based Zumba classes for some time and have long been advocates of the positive effects of physical activity. However, they were especially pleased to receive such positive feedback from a group who were affected by particularly advanced dementia. He continues: “It was great to watch as faces around the room lit up in recognition of a favourite piece of music. The participants seemed to really enjoy the session and care staff noticed a definite difference in residents throughout the rest of the day! I hope it will act as motivation for other older adults to consider coming along to tALkactive classes.”
Home Instead Senior Care specialises in providing at-home care for the elderly in the local community. This service is completely personalised and can vary from one to twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This includes companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, post-discharge care, medication reminders shopping and errands.
If you would like more information about the tALkactive chair-based Zumba or the services available from Home Instead, please call 01484 661921 or visit www.homeinstead.co.uk/kirklees
