Keeping Fit and Healthy in Bishan

Imagine waking up every day feeling renewed and revitalised. There has been well-established research evidence over the past few decades to show that chronic diseases are largely preventable through lifestyle modifications, and a multidisciplinary group of like-minded and passionate Physiotherapists, Dietitian, Nutritionist, and Health Wellness Coach from St Luke’s ElderCare (SLEC) have used that as their basis to develop the Fit Agers Programme. A play on the word “teenager”, this programme aims to debunk the stereotypes that keeping fit is only possible for the young and that healthy eating is an onerous endeavour. 

The 12-week programme consists of two intervention arms: Diet and Exercise. There are four modules under the diet component: musculoskeletal health, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Residents will be educated on how they can calibrate their diets to ensure they have adequate nutrition and how to substitute healthier alternatives in their diets.

The exercise component is split into three phases. Residents will learn how to exercise outside of a gym environment, inside a gym, and be equipped with basic knowledge on planning their exercise regime to ensure they achieve the levels of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

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This programme is not only suitable for seniors with chronic conditions but is also beneficial to those who are sedentary. SLEC actively collaborates with Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Community Health Teams (TTSH’s CHT) to identify and reach out to Bishan residents to form a close-knit community that exercises and eats well together. Apart from TTSH’s CHT, SLEC also plans to involve General Practitioners (GPs) and Health Coaches in the vicinity to be part of this outreach effort.

The SLEC Fit Agers programme ultimately aims to enable residents to achieve a self-sustained change in health behaviours through education and empowerment, and in turn build a community that “Takes Control, Lives Well, and Ages Strong”!

For more information, please email Caleb Low, Senior Physiotherapist at SLEC Active Ageing Centre@Bishan at caleblow@slec.org.sg​.