Can a specialised exercise program reverse ageing and make money for a village?
A revolution for the Australian retirement and aged care industry, the Helsinki Wellness Program is now available to village operators. Not only does the Program provide a new level of health and wellbeing to your residents and local community, but also the potential to become a self-funding village facility.
The Helsinki Program is a wellness program designed for the Australian retirement and aged care industry. Your village can now have access to the most advanced health and fitness technology. Based on 25 years of scientific research, the Helsinki Program’s unique focus on muscle strength is key to effectively manage balance and core strength – the essentials in helping seniors keep doing the things they love.
A program that defies the ageing process and profits everyone
Your village residents can benefit from what many thousands of seniors have experienced over the world. The Program has helped them reach their individual goals, from regulating diabetes, rehabilitation after an injury to feeling stronger and independent in everyday living.
World-leading health solutions attracting your Residents and local community
The Helsinki Program is a complete package with an accredited HUR therapist, selected HUR specialist equipment, Smart Card computerised technology, and individualised seniors’ wellness plans
HUR Accredited therapist
Our HUR Accredited Therapists help create an atmosphere where people feel welcome. They have an abundance of skill and experience with backgrounds in sports physiology or physiotherapy. Customised assistance is provided to each person starting with an initial assessment discussing individual goals, an orientation to the equipment, followed by a customised exercise plan. The combination of our Therapist’s skills and the flexibility of HUR equipment easily accommodate the fact that everyone is different.
HUR SmartCard Technology
Through HUR’s Smart Card technology, the Accredited Therapist produces a unique wellness plan for each person on their own Smart Card. When inserted into the controls of the equipment, the card automatically adjusts the settings and resistance, provides video instruction, and records the results on a centralised computer. The information assists the Therapist to efficiently track each person’s progress and easily make exercise adjustments or create new programs on their personalised Smart Card.
HUR Special equipment
HUR’s specialist equipment is simple, safe and quiet. Based on unique smooth air-pressure technology, each machine mimics the natural movement of the muscles providing targeted strength to assist with managing balance, core strength, walking speed and prevention of falls. Seniors will find it easy to move onto and out of the machines as well as making adjustments while on the machine.
Village tailored program
A HUR specialist will work closely with your village to establish which combination of machines is most suitable for the space you have available, the type of residents in your villages as well as the seniors in your local community. A set of exercise protocols will be developed based on agreed guidelines (ie. according to sports medicine guidelines) and from these the customised exercise plans can be developed for each user.
The Helsinki Program features a selection of HUR machines designed to make exercise as low impact and easy to use as possible. Every machine targets a specific muscle group to ensure a complete body workout while remaining biomechanically safe, and each exercise is clearly explained on a colour LCD screen.
International research1 reveals that strength training is one of the most important elements of exercise for those over the age of 65. A significant decrease in the amount of muscular mass can be seen after 50 years of age and this declines by about 40% by the age of 70.
Unique features of HUR equipment
- is the result of 25 years of scientific research and co-operation between different universities as well as leading experts in physiology and biomechanics from all over the world.
- uses air as resistance which overcomes the additional effort required to lift a static weight at the beginning of an exercise and to slow it down at the end, making the movement feel smoother and safer to execute
- is ergonomically comfortable, has zero-weight starting resistance and stepless increments
- easy to move onto and out of the machines as well as making adjustments while on the machine
- rehabilitation, strength and power training is possible on just one piece of equipment
- enables a large variety of exercises in a small floor area
- quiet, safe and easy to use equipment is suitable for all residents and their capabilities
This is just one of the many personal stories that show the remarkable health improvements resulting from the Helskini Program. It is Maria’s story, who in her mid 80s moved to a retirement village in Helsinki Finland. This was three months after she had suffered a stroke and was left with ongoing pain, medication to manage it, and she needed the help of two community nurses to get through the day. She was also beginning to show signs of depression and cognitive decline.
Maria began her next stage of recovery with the Helsinki Program – a combination of HUR specialist equipment and tailored exercises. Improvements were noticeable within weeks, and a couple of months on, her pain was gone and she no longer needed nursing support.
The improvement in Maria’s lifestyle has been phenomenal, reversing the trajectory of her physical and mental decline with the help of the Helsinki Program. These kinds of results have been echoed in centres around Europe, Japan and America.
In the words of Lena Karjaluoto, HUR’s CEO, “Did you know that 46% over 80 years old can’t lift more than 5 kg? Studies show that one of the most important things for staying healthy and independent throughout your life is to have good muscular condition. And we are all entitled to a healthy and independent life, as long as possible.
“Though public diseases like obesity, diabetes, depression, cardiac disease and dementia are huge challenges on both an individual level as well as society as a whole...HUR is dedicated to contributing in what we do best - which is providing the best exercise solutions for preventive, rehabilitative and maintaining everyday strength – so that our customers can keep on performing miracles every day.”
The HUR air resistance exercise equipment is manufactured in Finland. Developed as the result of a research project at the University of Technology, Helsinki in 1989, the company has maintained close ties with the research community ever since.