Empty nesters are a unique group. We all know who these people are: folks who spent the last 20+ years of their lives raising their children, who are now experiencing life without the responsibilities of their kids living under their roof. Like many parents, Empty Nesters put their growing children first, and found themselves getting less and less physical activity, while supporting their children's activities and interests. But now with the children gone, Empty Nesters, while still working full-time, have the opportunity to re-engage in the activities and sports they enjoyed years ago. They also make a great group to bring into a gymnasium at 6 a.m.

The Y took a unique approach to re-engage Nesters in physical activity and help them meet the PA guidelines. We looked at many theories of change, and created a program framework specifically for Empty Nesters to encourage their renewed interest in their own health and their pursuit of fitness. This framework and unique approach includes: establishing the feelings of support in a group setting, being active with people similar to each other, and recognizing the competence and skill each person gains while being more active.

The program framework that the Y created to help Nesters meet the PA guidelines looks like this:

1. Program focuses on activities or sports that Nesters participated in when they were younger (a "re-Beginner" instead of "new" Beginner).
2. Participants were recruited by age, re-beginner status and physical condition.
3. Two staff led the program - one as the "coach" and the other asthe "facilitator."
4. The facilitator's responsibility is to build group unity, create a sense of belonging, help in individual goal setting, and recognize group and individual achievement.
5. The coach's responsibility is to lead the physical activity (be it dance, basketball, cycling, etc.) at a level that is safe and appropriate to the group's skill and physical activity, while keeping the class fun and inspirational. Both the coach and the facilitator mirror the participant's age, life experiences, etc. as much as possible.
   
6. The program plan is to transition the group to be self-supporting.

This framework has resulted in some pretty interesting groups, including a dozen "slightly" obese, 50-55 year old ex-high school basketball stars, doing 60 minutes of basic ball handling drills, conditioning exercises, and half court games at 6 a.m., to a like-group of female ex-dancers, re-learning ballet routines, while also hitting the weight room. This works too for just about any activity many of us may have played as kids or in high school.

This framework is bringing attention to the PA guidelines, giving coaches, facilitators, and Nesters the ability to be creative in designing activities that meet the PA guidelines, and are fun to them.

Would this framework work in other settings, or with other groups?

Could you be a coach or facilitator yourself, and bring the PA guidelines to life in yet another group of re-Beginners?

What might you add?

With one in three children in the nation obese or overweight and diabetes rates expected to rise dramatically over the next several decades, the imperative to help and support families sustain healthy lifestyles is as great as ever. Finding time for regular physical activity, eating healthy food, and finding supportive environments and relationships all have an impact on the health and well-being of children, adults, families and the communities where they live.

I can tell you that every day, in Ys across the country, we see and hear about the challenges families face. We know that busy families may feel many barriers to engaging in healthy lifestyles – anything ranging from long work hours, to overscheduled kids, and neighborhoods that are just unsafe for walking and playing.  Taking small steps and making incremental changes toward incorporating healthy activities into family routines so they don’t seem cumbersome or overwhelming can be a solution to overcome some barriers. 

Healthy Family Home^TM , a YMCA initiative, helps families adopt and maintain healthy behaviors like being more physically active by providing them with fun, simple and engaging activities that they can build into their daily schedules. Healthy Family Home is based on five pillars that support a healthy family home: Eat Healthy; Play Every Day; Get Together; Go Outside; and, Sleep Well. The physical activity component – Play Every Day – focuses on things families can do together.  And it doesn’t matter what the activity is, it’s just about getting moving and being together.

The Y understands that healthy living begins at home. It’s important that families create environments that support healthy behaviors but we know that this is sometimes easier said than done. At the Y, we’ve made an intentional effort to support all individuals who struggle to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. So in addition to the many programs aimed at getting kids and families active inside the walls of the Y – Healthy Family Home helps to ensure that families are equipped to take what they’ve learned at the Y home with them. But you don’t have to be a Y member to reap the benefits.  Families who have never even stepped foot in a YMCA can learn how to engage their families in healthy lifestyles by visiting www.ymca.net. 

What we’ve learned is that parents want to create healthy environments, but they often don’t know how to make it happen in their home. And a one-size-fits all strategy isn’t going to work for all families. As professionals, we can help guide, support families and provide them with the tools and resources to apply what they’ve learned when they are at home and we aren’t around. 

What do you think of Healthy Family Home?   For more information about Healthy Family Home, visit: www.ymca.net

How might you help families that you work with adopt and maintain healthy habits?

What do you think of when you hear the word “cancer”?  Like me, you probably don’t think of “working out”, or “increased levels of physical activity”.  You might think of hair loss, painful treatments, feeling sick, and having no energy, among other things.  But for some folks, exercise and physical activity is just what their doctor orders, even if they haven’t been active in the past.  In most cases, the physical activity guidelines can be followed by  (or modified for) cancer survivors, especially while under the care of an oncologist or other physician. Physical activity not only helps improve their physical health, but can also be instrumental in improving their overall well-being.

The Y started actively working with cancer survivors in organized programs more than three years ago, and has been instrumental in helping cancer survivors understand the role of physical activity in their life, and increasing their levels of physical activity during all phases of their life as a cancer survivor.  (For most, the definition of a cancer survivor is anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, from the minute of their diagnosis).

How did the Y become more effective in increasing activity levels with cancer survivors?  Select Ys participated in the LIVESTRONG at the YMCA collaborative, in partnership with the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  First, they oriented and trained their staff.  Second, they engaged multiple cancer experts and organizations, locally and nationally.  Third, they did everything they could to ease cancer survivors into evidence based programs, lead by caring, empathic staff, in safe comfortable surroundings, with other cancer survivors.  And fourth, they shared what they learned along with the way.

Staff throughout these Ys were oriented and trained on how to respond appropriately when someone identifies themselves as a cancer survivor.  We also learned basic, factual information about cancer, treatments, and ways to successfully engage cancer survivors in safe levels of physical activity.  We involved local and national cancer experts during meetings, webinars, and conference calls, to glean more information about safe physical activities for cancer survivors, like weight training, aerobic activity, and flexibility exercises.  This was critical to the creditability of the LiveStrong at the Y program, as was the empathic staff who led group physical activities or one-on-one training with cancer survivors.

One of the more creative and helpful aspects of the LiveStrong at the Y program was helping cancer survivors feel in control of their lives, through physical activity.  Instead of feeling like their cancer diagnosis was a signal to do nothing (which can lead to a feeling like cancer is controlling your life), participants were encouraged to and participated in physical activities that showed they could indeed increase their physical conditioning, become stronger, more flexible, which overall showed them their cancer was something they could deal with.  Working out with other cancer survivors, and even participating in activities that benefited others (park clean ups, food drives, etc.), only enhanced this feeling of being back and being in control of one’s life. 

The physical activity guidelines are important for all people, abilities, and mindsets. 

How are you using the guidelines in new programs or in programs with new populations?