Helen Core, our Wellbeing Manager on Zest: designing movement that works for every resident

Regular physical activity plays an important role in supporting both physical health and mental wellbeing as we age. Across Anchor care homes we offer Zest, our inclusive movement programme designed to help residents of all abilities stay active, improve mobility and enjoy moving together in a way that feels right for them.

In this blog, Helen, Wellbeing Manager for Care at Anchor and the creator of Zest, shares how the programme was developed, how it has grown, and why safe, enjoyable movement makes such a positive difference to residents’ lives.

Meet Helen, the Wellbeing Manager behind Zest

I’m Helen and I am the Wellbeing Manager for Care at Anchor, I joined in October 2020 to design, deliver and oversee the Zest physical activity package for residents within our care homes.  

I’m a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor and qualified in a range of more specialised areas including GP Referral, mental health, lower back pain, Pilates, older adults, clients with disabilities, clients with neurological conditions and have completed the Postural Stability Instructor training (falls prevention).  I am also a Tutor and Assessor and Internal Quality Assurer.  

Why Zest was created

Zest was first introduced to our care homes at the beginning of 2021. and it has been designed to help maintain or improve resident’s level of independence, reduce falls and improve strength and mobility by replicating every day movements within exercise sessions.  It’s important to remember that every resident in every home is individual and therefore a guiding principle is ensuring colleagues could tailor the sessions to their residents' needs e.g. how long the session was and whether the resident participates sitting or standing – there is no one size fits all. 

Movement tailored to every resident

Continuing with this theme of variety and inclusion we wanted to ensure that whatever type of movement residents enjoyed it was available to them, so over the last five years Zest has grown by releasing expansion packs including pre-recorded dance sessions and monthly live dances that all our homes can join, relaxation sessions, bingo, personal exercise plans and more.

We even have our own YouTube channel that anyone can use so whenever our residents want to move they can.   

What’s new: Box-It, Bootcamp and beyond

Two of our most recent releases have actually been my personal favourites – Zest Box-It and Zest Bootcamp.  Box-It uses pads and gloves for some good old boxing fun – colleagues are trained to hold pads and to teach residents who to punch safely.  Having kickboxed for 6 years I can honestly say that hitting things in a controlled environment can be very therapeutic!  Bootcamp introduces pieces of equipment to our Zest sessions to make them slightly more challenging – this includes light dumbbells, resistance bands and squeezy massage balls.  And we’re not stopping there, Zest will continue to grow  with additional sport-focused sessions in development this spring.

Our goal is to get everyone moving and having fun.  Zest has shown great results over the last five years in things that can be measured including reducing falls and improving residents’ mobility, but in many ways some of the biggest benefits colleagues observe and residents tell us about are to do with how participation makes them feel, how it has lifted moods and encouraged friendships. 

What residents tell us

For example, residents at Glenvale Park care home shared really positive feedback about Zest during a recent residents’ meeting. Many said they enjoy that the sessions aren’t too fast-paced and feel just right for their age group. Zest has quickly become one of their favourite activities, with residents saying they look forward to seeing it on the planner each week and that they genuinely feel the benefit of taking part, often leaving sessions feeling better than when they arrived.

I’m really proud of the Zest programme and what it offers residents. At different stages of our lives fitness and exercise can sometimes feel like tricky things to get into, there can seem to be a range of barriers to getting started. I believe it’s important to remember that all movement is good movement as long as it’s safe…..and as we like to say in our homes,  “Zest is the best”.

Helen Core is Anchor’s Wellbeing Manager for Care

Learn more about our approach to wellness and activity

Our care homes cultivate an environment where people can lead a full life, both physically and mentally. Whether that’s feeling connected to their local community, friends and loved ones, supported in continuing their hobbies or having the opportunity to lead an active lifestyle and take care of their physical health through our Zest programme. To find out more about our approach to wellness and activity, click here.