Seniors Well-being Program Expansion
Liverpool Seniors Well-being and Social Group infographic from 2023 pilot program.
The Liverpool Seniors Well-being and Social Group was conceptualised as a collaboration initiative between Liverpool City Council, Collective Leisure, Healthstin and South Western Sydney Local Health District who delivered the pilot program over 6-months in 2023. The program was initially funded under the NSW Government Connecting Seniors grant program designed to reduce social isolation in those aged over 65 and over 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Preliminary results from our pilot program demonstrate reductions in loneliness, increased engagement in physical activity and reductions in sedentary behaviours for program participants. Informal feedback demonstrates far-reaching impacts of the program from health benefits, improved confidence and friendships with support networks forming outside of the program. Interviews with our participants can be viewed here and a snapshot of program activities here.
The Liverpool Seniors Well-being and Social Group started back on Tuesday 30th January at Lurnea Community Hub with our regular Gentle Exercise class, an active and engaging physical activity session led by an Exercise Physiologist from our partner organisation Healthstin. The Liverpool Seniors Program runs thrice weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during school term. We have now reached over 90 registered participants in 2024. In 2023 we reached a total of 1222 attendances over 73 sessions.
On Tuesdays we hold Gentle Exercise classes, Thursday rotates between art, technology and Tai Chi classes while Friday focuses on well-being with Yoga and Meditation classes, well-being and information sessions. Sessions run between 9:30am-10:30am with light refreshments provided afterwards at the onsite café, Wonderwood Eatery, thanks to the generous support of Liverpool City Council and Wonderwood Eatery.
Due to the success of the Lurnea model we are planning to mobilise the program using a NSW Government Connecting Seniors grant to expand the program to 6 new areas in the Liverpool LGA. We aspire to expand the program throughout Western Sydney to help reduce social isolation and loneliness for those most in need.
We continually incorporate participant feedback to ensure the program meets the needs of the community. This has led to the inclusion of our inaugural technology class which began on 8th February and saw participants learn how to set up and access emergency contacts on their phone with a regular drop-in trouble shooting and education class planned for the rest of the term.
The program continues this year at Lurnea Community Hub with many thanks to our current and prior partners throughout the program including Liverpool City Council, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Healthstin, Chi Chinese Healing College, Wonderwood Eatery, Liverpool Academy of Music, Nourish Fitness Well-being, Hearing Australia, Council of the Aging NSW, Catholic Care and Bhajiya Restaurant.