HEALTH and Wellness
No age limit for fitness fans
By Johm Booth*
More than a year after Copeland Oaks established its wellness program, muscles and healthy attitudes aren’t the only things developing at the Sebring retirement community.
As more residents and staff get interested in fitness and flexibility, there’s also a sense of communication, learning and sharing that crosses generational lines.
Wellness director Eve Bevilacqua, a former Mahoning Valley TV exercise personality who owned and operated a chain of area fitness clubs, said about 1,200 residents per month visit the recently opened exercise room for individual workouts or to take part in group exercise.
“It’s just been wonderful,” she said. “My classes only grow. Right now, we’re considering what we’re going to do next, because we need more room.”
About a dozen classes – two of which are for Copeland employees – cover all sorts of exercise territory. Step aerobics, yoga, stability ball training and balance classes are on the calendar, as are “sit and be fit” workouts for residents in wheelchairs or with limited mobility.
And there are no excuses for missing out, with the gym open 24 hours a day, and an in-house TV channel offering Bevilacqua’s recorded exercise classes. “For the people that don’t want to come out, they can exercise right in their apartment or their villas,” she said.
Crucial to the programs are partnerships with Mount Union College and Youngstown State University, which offer internships to students from both schools.
Not long after being hired as Copeland’s first wellness director in 2008, Bevilacqua visited Mount Union’s Exercise Science classes looking for interns.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to see if they’re in the right field,” she said. “The aging population right now is a really big deal because of all the Baby Boomers coming in. Some (students) weren’t sure they wanted to work with the elderly, but they’ve found out how rewarding it is.”
Count Mount Union student Betsy Johnson among them. “I had no clue what I was getting myself into,” said Johnson, a health major and exercise science minor whose home church is Wooster United Methodist. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to get my feet wet before going into grad school.”
Since the beginning of the school year, Johnson has been a personal trainer to two Copeland Oaks residents.
“I got a lot of feedback the first day like, ‘I can’t do this. I can’t do that. I’m nervous about this,’” Johnson said. But gradually, the college track athlete and her older trainees learned about each others’ abilities and personalities. “We just sit down and have conversations about life in general while they’re doing their 30-minute workouts,” she said. “For me, I’m starting to get very attached to them.”
Copeland also worked with YSU’s gerontology department to help conduct research surveys with the residents, talking about fitness and wellness, and then conducting a walking study with the university’s physical therapy program.
“It’s really nice to have the young people around,” Bevilacqua said. “That generational thing does an awful lot to make everybody feel good about themselves.”
Health in body, mind and spirit are all within Copeland Oaks’ aims, which executive director Phil Braisted will be expanding well beyond any weight room.
“Every week it seems I see new research about the benefits of exercise, both physically and mentally, in improving the quality of life for senior adults,” he said. “Our wellness programming will include mental acuity and wellness training. And we really are in the initial stages, but we are moving toward creating a program where we would do wellness retreats for people who are not on campus ... to put wellness plans together for their lives.”
* Johm Booth is a contributing writer for Joining Hands Magazine
