PIONEER PRESS ARTICLE
Disabled clients get fit — and so does the staff
Dakota Communities has success with exercise pairs
By Jeremy Olson, Pioneer Press, 05/23/2010
The relay race at the Ways to Wellness fitness center in Woodbury wasn't going Melody's way. She could see her team's row of hand weights wasn't shrinking as quickly as the opposing team's, so she took drastic action.
Hoping nobody would notice — though everyone did — she grabbed two weights at once, slyly jogged across the room and dumped them in her team's bucket.
"Melody!" fitness trainer Rachel Larson exclaimed.
Nobody took the infraction too seriously — not when the main goal is to increase fun and exercise for Melody, 51, and other Dakota Communities clients like her with developmental disabilities. The moment mostly underscored the playful competitiveness that has helped make the fitness program a success.
Now in its second year, Dakota's "Be Connected, Be Well" initiative pairs disabled clients with staff caregivers who join them in weekly fitness sessions. The point of pairing clients and staff is to get them to motivate and inspire each other — and maybe compete once in a while, too.
"This is the first program we've implemented where (residents and caregivers) are doing it side by side," said Toni O'Brien, director of community life for Dakota Communities, which operates 32 residential facilities in the metro area. "So it's with them, not to them."
In the first year, 22 participants lost an average of 13 pounds each, reduced their body mass index and improved their metabolism. Even with only weekly fitness sessions, participants gained exercise and good dietary habits — plus the pressure of weekly weigh-ins and fitness measurements — that carried over to their home lives.
The big surprise to leaders of the program was that the disabled clients lost more weight on average in the first year than the Dakota staff members.
Improved fitness is a huge benefit for Melody, who has been in institutional care for most of her life because of Down syndrome and mental disability. Her last name isn't included in this report because she is a ward of the state.
Obesity and poor health can only compound problems for the developmentally disabled, leaving them prone to more illnesses and to expensive hospital care and medications.
"Oftentimes, we put them in a box, but they have so much potential. It's a matter of seeing it," said Tina Stofferahn, a coordinator of one of Dakota's homes who is paired with Melody in the fitness program. "I never knew Melody could do sit-ups, and I never asked her to do sit-ups. But she can do more than I can."
The program was designed for the staff, too, given that Dakota, like most businesses, is seeing its health insurance costs rise and has an interest in improving the health of its work force. The workers and residents travel together weekly to Ways to Wellness, a HealthEast fitness center adjacent to the Woodwinds hospital.
Heather Lake, a caregiver paired with resident Doug Angier, said the first round of workers last year still tended to view the program as something they were doing only for the clients. The next round of participants figured out more quickly that it was designed for them as well.
Lake said the activities are fun, breaking up the monotony of her runs on the treadmill at home. Particularly motivating are the weekly measurements at the exercise center that track progress and the food diary she is keeping at home.
"That has been key for me," she said. "If you eat something that's not so good, you have to write it down."
Minus a blip last Thanksgiving, Lake said, both she and Angier have been making progress in their weight-loss goals over the past year.
Angier embraces each activity with gusto. He was already sweating after some stretching drills with exercise balls, but he took off at the start of the relay race.
"When did you get so fast at running?" asked Larson, the athletic trainer.
"I don't know," Angier exclaimed without breaking stride.
Angier smiles through most of the exercises, especially when it is his turn to put on boxing gloves and hit a mannequin nicknamed "Stinky Pete," but he is taking it seriously. At home, Angier now sits on an exercise ball while at the computer. The 32-year-old, who has a mild mental disability, wants to lose weight and not feel so tired after his days at work.
"I have to stay away from chips," he admitted.
After exercising, Lake and Angier sat down with Melody and Stofferahn. The program's dietary expert, Brenda Navin, went over food choices and portion sizes. Melody's attention was almost lost after someone mentioned hot fudge sundaes, but Navin regained her attention with a model of 5 pounds of human fat.
"Is that your fat?" Melody asked. "Yech!"
While Melody's weight hasn't changed much, Stofferahn said, her health and attitude about exercise have improved.
"It used to be a power struggle every time to get her to exercise," she said. "Now she'll tell us what exercises she wants to do."
Dakota leaders hope their exercise program can serve as a model nationally. A new $78,000 grant from United Way helps cover enrollment into the HealthEast fitness program and new gym equipment that Dakota residents can use at home.
They also hope the success story sends a message to the public and to people who may not have the same physical limitations and challenges to better health.
"Their motivations may be different than the general population, but everybody has their own issues," Navin said. "Finding what motivates someone is really what it comes down to."