TV dance star, Erin Boag, is stepping out in Scotland today (Friday 24 June) to show people how they can waltz their way to better health, as part of a campaign to encourage older people to improve their physical and emotional wellbeing through dance.
Bupa’s Shall We Dance campaign follows a report commissioned by the healthcare company – Keep Dancing - which found that fewer than one-in-five people aged over-65, and less than one in ten over 75s, get the recommended levels of physical exercise.
It says that dance can have significant health and fitness benefits for older people beyond other types of exercise including:
- improving coordination, reaction times, muscle endurance, flexibility, gait and strength – which all reduce the risk of falls in older people
- helping in the prevention and treatment of conditions as diverse as dementia, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease.
- improving confidence and reduce isolation amongst older people through social interaction.
Leading a dance session at Bupa’s Golfhill Care Home in Glasgow, Erin Boag said:
“I want to share my passion for dance because it is such a wonderful way to improve fitness and can be done by anyone regardless of experience or ability.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be part of this campaign and to show residents a few simple moves.
“My gran is in a Bupa care home in New Zealand and has thoroughly enjoyed getting involved in the activities which have been getting rolled out globally – so I can see the positive impact that dance can have. It’s never too late to start!”
Bupa Care Homes is appealing for local dancers, dance troupes and dance teachers – of any style – to contact their local care home and share their passion for dance by performing for residents or teaching dance classes to people with a range of mobility issues.
Kenny Valentine, director of Bupa Care Homes in Scotland, said:
“Dance has an extremely important role to play in the care of our residents. Not only is it a fun and engaging social form of exercise but it can help trigger fond memories for our residents of going to dances when they were younger.
“There are even instances of residents who experience restrictions in their movement normally being able to move more freely while dancing to music.”
The Bupa Shall We Dance campaign is being rolled out across all Bupa Care Homes worldwide including the UK, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
For more information about the benefits of dance in caring for older people visit www.bupa.co.uk/dance.
ENDS
For further information, to arrange interviews or obtain copies of pictures please contact:
Shaheena Abbas or Lynne Veitch at Pagoda Public Relations on 0131 556 0770
For Bupa corporate affairs press office contact:
Tel: +44 (0)207 656 2454
bupapressoffice@bupa.com
Notes to editors:
- Bupa’s ‘Keep Dancing’ report was carried out for Bupa by the Centre for Policy on Ageing. For a copy email Shaheena.abbas@pagodapr.com
- To find out how to join in go to www.bupa.co.uk/dance
- The Shall We Dance initiative is part of the Bupa Global Challenge 2011, in which thousands of Bupa employees are joining together with communities around the world in June to encourage more people to get active.
Bupa care services
- In Scotland, Bupa has 30 care homes, caring for over 2,650 people, of which 80 per cent are state funded
- Bupa operates over 300 nursing and residential homes in the UK and cares for almost 18,500 people.
- Bupa care homes are open to everyone – over 70 per cent of Bupa’s UK residents are state funded.
- Bupa is the only company to offer Alzheimer’s Society-trained Dementia Champions in our UK specialist care homes.
- Bupa Care Services employs over 27,000 people in the UK.
- Bupa also owns care homes in Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.
About Bupa
Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives.
A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare.
With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare.
We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.
Employing nearly 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America.
For more information, visit www.bupa.com
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Contact: Shaheena Abbas
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Email: shaheena.abbas@pagodapr.com
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