There is a lot of research about the wide range of health and wellbeing benefits from physical activity for older people. Research also tells us that there is a steady decline in activity with increasing age and frailty. This has a huge impact on an older person’s quality of life, where they may, in time, not be able to maintain their independence or carry out simple activities in daily life, such as rising from a chair. Often, older people just need the opportunity or the support to be more active and to engage in activities on a daily basis.
Promoting physical activity can support care homes to meet some of the National Care Standards. During the inspection process the Care Inspectorate takes account of the National Care Standards. These are based on a set of principles that recognise that services must be accessible and suitable for everyone who needs them.
"Care... about Physical Activity" offers support for everyone in a care home to get involved and become physically active in different ways and not just through formal exercise sessions. We have developed “Care... About Physical Activity” to support national and local organisations to promote physical activity in care homes and we hope it will provide managers and others with a convenient and accessible source of learning to support the implementation of “Care… about physical activity”.