We’re delighted to announce that Mundy House Care Home have won a Gold Medal in the East of England Winter Deconditioning Games, working hard to embed physical activity into both residents and staff daily routines.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, shielding, isolation and lockdowns have had wide implications on activity levels and social interactions of people within the community, especially the older population. Emerging evidence suggests that due to factors including the impact of increased inactivity and reduced strength and balance activity throughout lockdowns from March to May 2020, approximately 110,000 more older people are likely to have one or more falls as a result (PHE 2021).
What is deconditioned? Deconditioning is “the loss of physical, psychological and functional capacity due to inactivity” (PHE 2021) and is associated with the loss of muscle mass, increased risk of falls and reduced independence.
The aim of the Winter Deconditioning Games has been to raise awareness of deconditioning, share best practice and to promote the testing and embedding of small-scale changes to reduce functional loss for people in hospital, care homes or for those accessing community services.
Across Essex, our Hospital Trusts, Care Homes and other health and social care partners have been participating in the Games. The fantastic Mundy House Care Home in Basildon have now won Bronze, Silver and a Gold Medal for all the amazing work they have done and continue to do to tackle deconditioning.
Since October 2021 the home has been part of the Basildon Brentwood CCG dancing on prescription programme, as well as utilising pedometers as part of the Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership initiative to get residents moving. The pedometers allow residents to see how many steps they can complete with the goal of walking the Essex Coastline. The Care Home are also part of the Prevention and Enablement Model, which is co-funded by the Essex Local Delivery Pilot and Essex County Council Adult Social Care.
The Care Home Manager said: “We’ve had so much support from many organisations. From the Active Essex Find Your Active training to enable our staff to deliver more activity sessions for our residents, to the Strength and Balance workshops and resources helping to plan regular active hours. It’s wonderful to see how this has changed both residents and staff mentality, their smiles and enjoyment, as well as strengthening their bodies through regular movement.”
If you’re interested in supporting residents who may be deconditioned, visit our Live Longer Better webpage for resources, downloadable packs and further ideas.
