It’s only just begun, but the Stay Active & Independent for Life (SAIL) program has already made an immense impact on Mercer Island senior participants.
The city’s Youth and Family Services (YFS) programs coordinator for direct services Marina Gonzales said that Islanders are building strength and balance, improving mobility and building community and social connections during and after classes. She added that the ultimate goal of the class is preventing falls in older adults.
The YFS and Mercer Island Parks and Recreation departments are hosting the evidence-based fitness program — developed by the Washington State Department of Health — which kicked off on July 7 at the community and events center and runs from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. There’s a drop-in fee of $5 for residents and $7 for non-residents; punch passes are available, which reduce the fee per class, for center activities.
Gonzales said that people love the class, which has thus far attracted male and female attendees age 58 and up, with some people in their 80s and one man in his 90s. The most robust class featured 23 people, but they’re going to max out their class limit at 15 going forward.
“It’s been pretty successful. We’ve had a full class every day that we’ve held the class so far. We’ve had some people who’ve come to all five classes so far,” Gonzales said on July 16 (at that time, about 40 people overall had attended the classes).
SAIL’s website sports the vital message: “Gain strength and balance to help maintain and improve your quality of life.”
Participant Carin Mack said the seniors are getting a complete workout, adding, “I can tell you from my perspective, it is a smashing success. I have been part of the class and can tell you that every session we have more people. Participants shared that they are so pleased to have a solid exercise class for seniors again.”
YFS senior services specialist Marjorie Carlson was passionate about bringing SAIL to the Island, said Gonzales, adding that they received $1,000 from the Mercer Island community fund that supported the training of facilitators and launch of the program.
“We are very excited to be able to offer SAIL and we have been overwhelmed with the amount of interest and positive feedback. A regular exercise program like SAIL is important to help seniors continually adapt to their body’s changes so they are able to live their lives to the fullest,” Carlson said.
Meg Pearson is the contracted SAIL facilitator and lead instructor who guides the seniors through a warm-up, 18-minute aerobics period, a strength portion with weights and balance and flexibility segments. Pearson’s curated playlist to keep things moving ranges from ’50s to ’80s tunes.
Pearson said it’s a fun, upbeat class, and “I am thrilled to see such high involvement and I’m also so happy to see the big smiles as everyone steps and moves to the music. The importance of moving and regularly exercising our musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and cognitive systems to maintain and improve balance as we age, (and thereby reducing the risk of falls) cannot be overstated.”
Gonzales, a backup facilitator who has helped get the class underway, said that it’s been nice to see participants chat with each other after class or hit the fitness room together when the session is complete.
“Our community-needs assessment that we did last year, two of the main things that we found from our focus groups were that seniors really wanted to have health and fitness classes, and they wanted more socialization options. And so we’re hoping this program kind of helps fill both needs,” she said.
For more information, call 206-275-7609 or visit https://tinyurl.com/yc82pezu .
