Idea Service’s Clyde Street whanau in Dargaville are having a great time with their new exercise routine. The journey began when one of the group was referred to Green Prescription for some support to get more active to improve health. Ann-Marie Lambly, the Healthy Lifestyle support person for the area met with the staff and together they planned an activity routine for the whole group.

The group do their routine every morning now, with a Strength and Balance exercise video to follow and a check in from time to time with Ann-Marie to see how they’re doing and what further support they may need.

One staff member, Gaylene, shares her thoughts on the experience –

“Idea Services values the model of Te Whare Tapa Wha and one aspect of that is the importance of exercise for health and wellbeing. Ann-Marie comes from Dargaville, which is great and her nature is very easy to work with. The best thing is that she works with the staff, alongside us. She really listened and took on board what the people wanted.

The video has helped us create a routine – 9am this is what we do, everyone helps get the chairs ready and we are seeing positive results from the exercise.

Ann-Marie is very welcoming and has a nice personality to work with people with disabilities, she is totally inclusive and this has now led to us attending her exercise class in Te Kopuru – achieving another of our goals to be out in the community.

Our staff have been empowered to lead the kaupapa ourselves, supporting our residents on their wellness journey and we have a big thumbs up from management – they can see the benefits!”

Ann-Marie goes onto explain that she has felt very privileged to be working with the residents and staff at Idea Services “I just think they are a fantastic group and I especially want to acknowledge the staff for giving this a go. It is because of their positive attitude towards the programme and their empathy to focus on what the residents can do rather than what they can’t, that this has been such a success. I was blown away by the progress they made in only a short time frame and how the team have adapted the exercises to work to the individual's strengths. They are also focusing on the support each person needs in order to improve individually, for their own health benefits.”