Activities coordinator Sanne: 'I now have a better understanding of what suits our residents'

From a nice warm-up to a gentle finish: Sanne Renders is now bringing more structure to physical activities for residents. The activity coordinator at nursing home Landrijt learned at Summa how to tailor activities to what residents are capable of. “Exercise is important, but residents must also enjoy it.”

“Do you actually know what you can and cannot do with certain diseases?” That question from the physiotherapist got Sanne thinking. Which muscle groups can you train? Which exercises are better avoided with a resident with a muscle disease? “No, I didn’t know that,” says Sanne. “Even though it is, of course, important to know.”

At Landrijt, part of Archipel, residents include young people with dementia and people with Huntington's disease or Korsakoff's syndrome. Sanne organizes and supervises all kinds of activities there, from baking to sports. “There is plenty to do every day. Residents choose what they enjoy and what they participate in.” For example, the physical activities. “We have a small fitness room with equipment and do exercises with the residents.”

To learn more about physical activity and to make activities more effective, Sanne, together with her colleague Amy, took the Sport and Exercise for Specific Target Groups course at Summa.
For eight afternoons, they learned how to prepare physical activities and adapt them to the capabilities of residents. What can someone handle? How strenuous can exercises be? Attention was also paid to safe movement and preventing falls.

Their own practice was fully covered, says Sanne. “At the beginning, we explained what our question was and which conditions we were dealing with. Hans, our teacher, responded to that. That was very nice.”

Sanne now uses what she learned in her work. “Our physical activities now have a clear structure: a warm-up, the core activity, and a cool-down. We build each lesson around one piece of equipment, such as a ball or a swimming tube. Previously, we used all materials interchangeably. That was less clear.”

The theory also helps her in guiding residents. “I now have a better understanding of what I can and cannot do with people with a muscle disease. Of course, I am far from knowing everything. The course is too short for that. Fortunately, I can ask questions to our physiotherapist or exercise therapist.”

Sanne finds the lessons both educational and fun. “Hans is an enthusiastic and passionate instructor. It is also nice that you learn in a group with colleagues from other healthcare institutions. By sharing experiences, you learn a lot from each other. I therefore highly recommend the course for healthcare workers who supervise physical activities and want to deepen their knowledge in this area.”

Do you supervise physical activities in healthcare? Learn how to make them safe, fun, and suitable for your clients or residents. Check out the Sport and Exercise for Specific Target Groups course at Summa and discover if it suits you.