Adding life to years and years to life

The ChangeX 100 social enterprise project wants Irish people to launch 100 new community projects in 100 days. Changex. org contains an online toolkit for setting up the local projects and groups: from GIY groups to Fáilte Isteach classes. Here, we examine what Siel Bleu is doing for Active Ageing

“Let’s Add Life to Years and Years to Life.” This is the apt slogan for health care charity, Siel Bleu, which aims to improve the lives of older adults through interactive, tailored exercise programs.

The importance of physical activity for older adults can often be underestimated, but since the French organisation Siel Bleu launched in Ireland in 2010, its Irish arm has expanded its presence across 15 counties and 70 nursing homes across the country, significantly increasing the standard of living for hundreds of older adults in Ireland.

Siel Bleu – run by a team of qualified trainers and volunteers – adapts its programmes to the needs and goals of its participants. While the needs may differ, the goal remains the same, according to Andrew McBride, development officer at Siel Bleu: “We’re striving to increase the independence and improve the quality of life for the elderly community now through preventative programmes – not waiting until there’s an issue.”

These preventive programmes vary, from building up strength to avert potential falls or back problems, to improving breathing, to enabling people to carry out the simplest of tasks.

“I had a lady in her 80s thank me for the huge benefit the class is having on her life – the week prior was the first time in two years that she was able to put her own socks on,” explains Andrew. “These little things are huge in someone’s life in allowing them to keep their independence.”

The physical exercise inevitably also affects the mental wellbeing of its participants; however, beyond that, the social aspect it provides often acts as a type of support group both for the carers and the participants.

The success of Siel Bleu is evident through Siel Bleu’s European Commission funded, nursing home study, Happier. The results clearly demonstrate the importance of physical activity for nursing home residents, seeing an 87 per cent improvement in participants’ moving capacity; 37 per cent improvement in participants’ ability to wash themselves and a 20 per cent increase in participants’ capacity to feed themselves.

Siel Bleu is striving to increase its reach among nursing homes throughout Ireland, as well as expanding its “community one-to-one programmes” to keep people living at home longer and prevent physical and mental regression among older adults.

This will also ultimately serve to reduce demand of hospital services that are already overstretched. To achieve this, Siel Bleu is actively looking for more people to help run the programmes – either as qualified trainers or volunteers to who see a demand for the Siel Bleu classes in their communities and help setting them up by making the contacts with local nursing homes, community centers or other suitable venues and helping to organise the regular classes.

It is also encouraging more members of the elderly community to take part in these programmes. As Andrew explains: “When I first took the job, I was only thinking of the physical benefits and not the tremendous psychological benefits the exercises have on people’s lives. You’re the happy face they look forward to seeing.”

Overall, Siel Bleu is hoping to transform Ireland into a ‘proactive thinking country’, preventing issues before they occur and in turn, improving the lives of the entire population; in short, adding life to years and years to life.

If you would like to bring Siel Bleu classes to your community visit changex.org/siel-bleu.