How do you get people with dementia interested in physical activity? How do you motivate them to keep exercising to improve their health? Motitech has found one good answer.
Eli Marie lived at Nykirkehjemmet care home in Bergen, Norway. She had Alzheimer’s disease and suffered from agitation. This was challenging for staff and other residents and two care home workers were needed to care for her at all times. Eli Marie was overweight and had great difficulty walking without a walking frame. How could the staff encourage and empower Eli Marie to improve her situation? The answer was increased physical activity. But how could that be achieved for a person with Alzheimer’s? Motivation was key. By using an exercise bike, video and sound from local roads and streets, the Eli Marie was able to take cycle trips through familiar surroundings and childhood memories.
The motivation system with video and sound called Motiview is delivered by Motitech. The constantly growing video library facilitates bringing memories back to life and inspires through the combination of sensory impression and physical activity.
After five months of cycling with Motiview, Eli Marie had lost 11 kilos. In addition, her mood had improved a lot. She was now content, and only one care home worker was needed to care for her. She was also able to walk without mobility aids.
Stories like this pops up everywhere Motiview is being used. About five thousand older people and people with dementia spread out across two hundred care homes and adult day care facilities in the Nordic countries have improved their physical health and general wellbeing through Motiview.
Motitech has now started a project in England, funded by Sport Englands Active Ageing Fund. Over the next two years, 24 care homes all across England will get to try out Motiview for three months each. During the project we will be measuring changes in physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the level of physical activity in general. We believe that the results will show good benefits from using Motiview and indoor cycling as motivation for physical activity and improved general wellbeing.
In September 2017, Motitech organised the very first Road Worlds for Seniors, with more than 1100 cyclists from the Nordic countries, Canada and Germany participating.
Wearing T-shirts and bicycle hats in our own World Championship design, the participants cycled 30 000 km in the six weeks the championship lasted - that is longer than the distance from Aberdeen to Cape Town and back! Road Worlds for Seniors is a competition, but most of all it is a great opportunity to focus on the importance of physical activity for older people and people with dementia. With the tremendous joy and enthusiasm this event created, we have decided to make the Road Worlds for Seniors an annual event.
This year, we also had about 400 participants from England cycling in the championship, and at the Why Sports conference, we will present some of the results! And as the regular Road Worlds Championship comes to Yorkshire in 2019, we expect the senior championship to be a great happening in the UK too! We are confident that the Road Worlds for Seniors eventually will become the largest sporting event in the world!
Motitech will Headline the Why Sports 2018 Conference. Please visit our website
Please contact Motitech for more information.
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