21 February 2019
Arthritis Action partners with Oomph! to develop arthritis-friendly exercise programme
For the first time, Arthritis Action have teamed up with wellbeing organisation Oomph! to bring together older adult group exercise instructors with arthritis experts, in designing a programme tailored to the needs of people with arthritis.
The new programme consists of three levels of intensity, targeting areas of the body commonly affected by arthritis: the hip, knees and spine. The exercises aim to aid strength, balance and co-ordination, with a focus on regaining, developing and maintaining physical independence.
In February 2019, the new programme was launched on the Oomph! app, accessible to all trained instructors, to deliver the exercise sets to community venues, including retirement villages, sheltered housing, and day centres.
This project was developed following demand for strength and balance exercises, suitable for people with arthritis, in a bid to make physical activity accessible for people with joint pain.
Shantel Irwin, CEO of Arthritis Action, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Oomph! to develop an exercise programme for people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. Our aim is to build people’s strength and confidence to exercise safely, and are pleased to have been able to share our knowledge and expertise on arthritis and MSK conditions.
Oomph!, experts in delivering activity programmes to the elderly, are best placed to deliver this exciting new programme across their networks in the UK. We very much look forward to measuring the impact of this programme on participants and are particularly excited about building people’s strength, confidence and ability to get out of a chair and achieve physical independence.”
Ben Allen, CEO and Founder of Oomph!, said: “We are excited to be partnering with Arthritis Action to create content specifically focused around strength and balance for those with arthritis. It is vital that we provide resources that Instructors value and that will have a substantial impact on the physical mobility of participants – the partnership provides the perfect opportunity to do this.”