National Fitness Day 2023

Getting active at any age or ability has the potential to bring great benefits to your life.

To celebrate #NationalFitnessDay 2023, we want to share Chris’s story.

Aged 79, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019.

Since then, he has been working closely with the Torfaen Exercise Referral Team at Neurofit@NERS, where physiotherapists and exercise professionals come together prescribing physical activity and rehabilitation for neurological participants who require additional support.

The Neurofit@NERS pathway was first established in March 2022, after the Torfaen Exercise Referral Team noticed a gap in service provision and reached out to the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Physiotherapy department to combine services. Collaboration between these two professions has led to better outcomes for participants, as they work together to develop tailored exercise programs that address the specific needs and goals of each patient.

Here’s what Chris had to say about his physical activity rehabilitation experience:

“I have now done 5 weeks of the present activity and am greatly encouraged with progress made and thankful to the friendly exercise professional and physiotherapists. Not only is movement easier than before, but tremors and shaking have greatly reduced. Although I still wake up several time a night, I am not so tired now and do not sleep in the daytime as much. Physical tasks have become easier. Muscle stiffness still occurs and rising from siting and getting out of bed is still challenging, but the Neurofit@NERS team has made me more optimistic and hopeful for the future even if the condition is still progressive.”

Another participant, Teek, echoed praise for the exercise professionals at Neurofit@NERS.

“In 2018 I had a stroke which has left me disabled, I have weakness and balance issues due to ataxia. I was referred to the gyms NERS program by my G.P to help and have come quite a way with help from exercise referral and the physio team.”

Linda, a member of the team working as a neuro-physio in the Community Neurological Rehabilitation Service, highlighted the benefits of getting active for individuals living with neurological conditions.

“It can be extremely difficult to find ways to keep fit and active. The research is clear that participation in moderate intensity exercise several times a week can have a significant impact on factors such as the risk of future cardiovascular events, it can help alleviate low mood and anxiety, it can improve walking speed and it can also reduce the risk of falls.

“We have found that when people are discharged from rehabilitation services, they often lack the confidence to return to community activities such as going to the gym. We have collaborated with the National Exercise Referral Scheme in Torfaen, Newport Ebbw Vale and Caerphilly to help bridge this gap. We provide hands on support and advice on how to adapt the exercise programs to accommodate for many of the visible and hidden disabilities that people with neuro conditions live with such as pain, fatigue, visual impairments, cognitive problems and neurological weakness.”

To learn more about the amazing work of the Exercise Referral Team at Neurofit@NERS, watch the video below.

#NationalFitnessDay