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4 | May 3, 2018 | The Homer Horizon news
homerhorizon.com
Senior citizens learn balance exercises at Marian Village
Nearly 50 area
residents attend
assessment clinic
Jacquelyn Schlabach
Assistant Editor
Tinley Park resident Ken
Shorter walks about three
miles four to five times a
week. He also volunteers
twice a week at a hospital,
which keeps the 77-year-old
active.
Shorter was one of approximately
48 seniors from
around the area who attended
a free balance clinic
and assessment called “Find
Your Balance” at Marian
Village April 19 in Homer
Glen. The clinic was held in
an effort to give seniors an
idea of how good their balance
is, as well as to learn
at-home exercises they can
do to strengthen and maintain
good balance.
“I was just interested in
the topic, the balancing,”
Shorter said. “I think my
balance is pretty good, but,
you know, just to get some
pointers on maybe different
ways to carry myself or I
think getting up and down.”
Those who attended the
clinic did two tests to identify
what areas they needed
improvement in. Remee
Ramos, who is the therapy
program manager at Franciscan
Village in Lemont, and
Reneta Ziliene, who is the
physical therapy assistant at
Franciscan, came to the sister
village at Marian to host
the program and work with
the seniors.
“I think that a lot of people
take balance for granted,
No. 1,” Ramos said. “As
they get older, having a
walker or a cane is something
of stigma, so they
don’t want to utilize an assisted
device due to pride,
so a lot of them won’t, but
when we put them through
a pace of these assessments
Therapy program manager Renee Ramos at Franciscan Village in Lemont welcomes seniors to the “Find Your Balance”
clinic held April 19 at Marian Village in Homer Glen. Photos by Jacquelyn Schlabach/22nd Century Media
that are very functional, and
we can tell them look this
is what we see, it kind of
opens their eyes to yeah I’ve
been having these problems
before.”
Each attendee was instructed
to do a 30-second
chair-stand test, where they
sit and then stand repeatedly
in the chair with their
arms crossed over their chest
as many times as they can.
They also did a TUG test
(timed up and go), where
they stood up and walked to
a white marker on the floor
and turned back as fast as
they could. These assessments
were able to show the
seniors how at-risk they are
for falling based on a chart
that showed the ideal range
to be in for each age group.
Ramos said she hosts these
events twice a year with the
independent living residents
at Franciscan and also hosts
a wellness chat that covers
a different subject each
month. Residents at Marian
Village will soon have this
opportunity, as well.
“I don’t think people really
realize how much their
balance plays in their life,”
Ramos said.
Shorter received a score
that represented a low risk
for falling. However, he was
instructed to lean forward
more when he gets out of a
chair to help with his balance.
Vivian Peltonen, of Orland
Park, came to the clinic
because she was having
problems with her knees and
wanted to learn some exercises
she could do that would
help prevent her from falling.
Peltonen used to walk
every day but developed arthritis
in her knee. She has
attended balance classes in
the past, but she wanted to
compare and see what ideas
she could get from the clinic
at Marian Village.
“I thought it gave us a
good idea of if we had problems
how we could rectify
those problems,” she said.
The 79-year-old got a
perfect score on her assessment,
but she was suggested
to make bigger strides as she
walked.
“I got a perfect, and I
haven’t been told I’m perfect
in a long time,” Peltonen
said.
Ramos said that it’s important
to educate seniors
for future reference so that
down the line, in six months
to a year or longer, they can
remember what they learned
at the clinic and do the exercises
suggested for them.
Some recommended exercises
for the seniors were
to do three sets of 10 chair
stands throughout the day,
and doing standing heel lifts.
Richard and Beverly Carriel
found the balance clinic
helpful, and the couple plans
to do some at-home exercises.
“We’re both interested
in keeping healthy and fit,”
Beverly said.
Joseph Kanter, of Orland Park, does the 30-second chair-stand test to see how good his
balance his.
She goes to an exercise
class three times a week at
her church, where they do
different movements incorporating
upper and lower
body strength, as well as
walking. Her husband has a
weak right knee and is unable
to attend the classes
with Beverly, but he said
this assessment let him know
where he’s at and how he
can improve.
Ramos said everyone who
participated in the assessment
was very receptive to
the exercises and hearing
what they could do to increase
their balance.
“I think we did really good
that day,” Ramos said.