AQUATIC FITNESS FOR THE ELDERLY

"Now I can walk up and down the stairs at my home - no one has to help me," says Gloria proudly. She was one of forty participants in TTOC's three-month pilot Aquatic Fitness Project for the Elderly.

The Project, one aspect of the Shape Your Life Programme, targeted elderly people living in Care Homes and Communities within Diego Martin and Port of Spain. The main objective was to reintroduce sport to their lives. But as Gloria's sentiment highlighted, a much more basic necessity was dealt with - that of independent movement. For the duration of the programme, participants attended pool sessions twice a week, under the guidance of a team of aquatic fitness instructors and physiotherapists. The age grouping ranged from late fifties to one hundred-and-three-year-old participant

A remarkable variety of improvements were seen, from increased flexibility and improved posture & balance to greater range of movement and stronger muscles. Tanya Western, Co-ordinator of the project explains, "For example, during the first week, some of the participants were lifted in and out of the pool. But gradually, their confidence, flexibility and strength improved. So the same participants that had to be lifted, were eventually able to use the pool ladders - with guidance and physical support of course to safeguard against injuries."

Happy faces. Sense of pride. Change of scenery. Confidence. Social interaction with instructors and other participants. These non-physical benefits cannot be ignored. For many, these benefits far outweighed the physical improvements.

Participants were sourced from St Finbar Ryan Geriatric Home, Salvation Army's Home for the Aged, St Andrew's Home for the Aged, St Vincent de Paul's Nazareth House, the Bagatelle and Diego Martin Communities as well as the Laventille Community (through the office of Parliamentary Representative Eulalie James).

Catherine Forde, TTOC Vice President, confirmed that further avenues were being explored to expand the project to other parts of Trinidad.

Special thanks to RBTT for providing sponsorship for the pilot programme.

WHAT IS "SHAPE YOUR LIFE"?

Olympism at work, Sport at the service of humanity, that is the essence of the TTOC's Shape Your Life Project.

It is an ambitious project that strives to place emphasis on the youth of Trinidad and Tobago and the role of Sport in their holistic development, its placing sport at the Service of Trinidad and Tobago.

The TTOC 's Shape Your Life Join the Team Project is intended to be a partnership between the TTOC, Corporate Trinidad and Tobago and the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

The RBTT Financial Holdings is a TTOC 's corporate partner in this bold inititative. Also, playing a crucial is the NOCs advertising partner Inglefield, Ogilivy and Mathers.

According to the Olympic Creed "the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle." The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.

The Olympic Creed articulates the Olympic Spirit, inspires and motivates the Shape Your Life Project.