Benefits of the Functionally Fit™ program

A slight increase in muscle strength can improve quality of life and stave off the frailty that used to be considered a normal part of getting old. In the case of most patients, strength training and flexibility will be the only types of exercise that they can engage in until they gain enough muscle strength to allow them to work on their endurance and balance. Research over the past decade has shown that even very old and very frail people can benefit from strength training.

The Functionally Fit™ program is designed to achieve the goal of helping seniors regain and maintain a higher degree of physical independence.

This program is generally intended for the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), but anyone working with frail or dependent seniors will find it beneficial. It will supply the basic knowledge needed to safely and effectively provide programs for dependent or frail seniors at different levels of physical conditioning.

While this training will be appropriate for persons other than CNAs, it is our goal to give the nurse’s aide the tools to safely and efficiently provide a functional fitness program for all patients as part of their daily care plan. They will be taught to implement Functionally Fit™, a “one-on-one” program with an emphasis on strengthening the resident and improving functional ability in basic self-care tasks called activities of daily living or ADLs. This is an innovative, time efficient, specific and effective program to be used with any patient, whether ambulatory, non-ambulatory or confined to their beds.