The promise of strength training: are the frail elderly past beneficial strength building?
Imagine what would happen to your quality indicators if Mrs. Smith could discard her feeding tube and feed herself. Or if Mr. Jones could rise from the confines of his bed and walk down the hall with his cane. Imagine the possibilities in enhanced quality of life and reduced burden of care if residents could do more for themselves. Such is the promise of strength training for nursing home residents. “We liken strength training to sports medicine for 95-year-olds,” says Mark Richards, national director of clinical services at Aegis Therapies. “It is exciting that a frail nursing home population can exercise and realize huge increases in strength and, more importantly, improved functional ability.” One of the most common sources of increasing frailty among the elderly is muscle weakness–often simply from inactivity. “Many people are in nursing facilities because they have lost their strength and can no longer perform the activities of daily living or keep themselves sufficiently mobile,
