The Importance of Exercise for the Elderly… Why Are Some Nursing Homes Still Not Incorporating It?

I would say that it is pretty common knowledge that exercise is good for you. While you’re young it can help one maintain body weight, stay fit, help insulin levels, and much more. As we age, the need to exercise becomes increasingly more important, yet the amount of exercise we get tends to decrease. For the elderly, exercise is just as important. Think of it as a “use it or lose it” kind of philosophy, If we keeps our muscles weak, as in not using them, soon enough we will no longer be able to have the strength.

Benefits of Exercise for the Young and the Elderly

1. Stress relief
2. Retain muscle strength and fitness
3. Maintain a healthy body weight
4. Cancer prevention & treatment(some studies have shown evidence for both)
5. Maintain healthy joints

When people are stressed, their body spends too much time in sympathetic tone which restricts blood flow to vital internal organs. This lack of blood flow greatly affects an individual’s health.

Being physically fit is just as important to the elderly as it is to the young athletes. It affects the chemical components of your body as well as the visual. That is why it plays a role in muscle tone and other area of health.

So if we (health professionals) are all fully aware of the benefits of exercise, why are so many assisted living and nursing home centers still not implementing exercise into the resident’s regular schedule? The truth is, I don’t have an exact answer to this question, it perplexes me. I have brainstormed some reasons, as well as interviewed some nursing home staff, and most of them still don’t make any sense to me…

Reasons…

1.  Not wanting to be reliable for physical injury obtained while participating
2. Only doing what is required, and exercise isn't required
3. Only in physical therapy is exercise incorporated, but they need a PT script in order to get it
4.  Many nursing home are short staffed, and don’t have time
5. Funding isn't there to help incorporate programs

In my personal opinion, none of these reasons are very good. The one that is really frustrating to me is #1. To me, not exercising them because of not wanting to be liable is simply ridicules. It’s like not stopping to help out an injured person on the street because you’re afraid they’re going to sue you. So because you’re afraid of losing money, you chose instead to let them suffer, or maybe even die. To fix this, maybe we can incorporate a release of some sort saying that they can’t be sued, you can ask permission of the resident or power of attorney, and sign off on some kind of fancy paperwork.

It should be a nursing homes moral obligation to give the best care possible, and even though incorporating exercise would not be difficult, it is still not done in a lot of places. Something needs to change to level to help those out, who helped raise us. At the administrative level, something needs to be figured out to be able to incorporate physical exercise daily, whether that means changing the budget around, or hiring more staff to find the time. The health of their residents is of utmost importance.