A special three-part series highlighting MRU alumni making a difference for Calgary seniorsErika Holter and Geoff Crane
As successful athletic therapists, alumni Jeff Peach (left) and Jeff Owen (not pictured) keep seniors active with their mobile athletic therapy services.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upset life for everyone, but the jarring effects have hit Calgary’s senior citizens especially hard.
Beyond the increased risks to their physical health due to the virus’s potency in older age groups, the measures taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 can be particularly difficult for older individuals who often live alone or are in varying forms of isolation.
In a special three-part series, we’re profiling alumni who are taking action to keep seniors connected and advocate for their needs during the pandemic.
Although Jeff Peach and Jeff Owen graduated from Mount Royal’s Advanced Athletic Therapy Certificate program in 2014 and 2015 respectively, they first met as sessional instructors in kinesiology at the University of Calgary in 2016. Two years later they incorporated Active Innovation Mobile Therapy (AIM Therapy) to offer mobile athletic therapy services for individuals — primarily seniors — with active living needs.
Originally Owen’s brainchild, he approached Peach to join AIM Therapy’s burgeoning business after beginning his master’s in medical education at the University of Calgary. “Working with seniors takes a lot of energy. With the demands of grad school coming up, I wanted to make sure that I was still able to give 100 per cent to my clientele at all times,“ Owen says.
Peach found the work rewarding, and once he realized the major impact they were making in the lives of care facility residents, he was hooked.
“The wellness director at one facility noticed a 25 to 40 per cent reduction in falls following the introduction of athletic therapy. Soon after, they started exploring the possibility of us working at all seven of their facilities across Calgary,” Peach says.
Peach and Owen commonly work with seniors recovering from surgeries or fractures, or those who can benefit from increased strength and mobility.
“Getting a full, proper rehab for hip replacement surgery is challenging,” Peach explains. “Patients get transferred around a lot, they spend lots of time in bed — not moving creates more weakness, which in turn decreases mobility and affects balance.”
Due to COVID-19, many exercise-focused businesses moved to an online model. This was not an option for Jeff Owen (right) and Jeff Peach, who run AIM Therapy.
Enter the COVID-19 pandemic and the strict protocols enacted to protect care homes, which proved early on to be an especially vulnerable environment for outbreaks.
“We returned to work as part of Stage 2 in mid-June,” Owen recalls. “With the shutdown of typical group activities and exercise classes, we were hearing that many residents were experiencing a decline in their physical or emotional health.”
While several exercise-focused businesses pivoted to virtual class delivery during this period, this was not a feasible option for AIM Therapy.
“The majority of our clients really need that one-on-one time, and about half our caseloads have some form of vascular dementia and don’t have the ability to watch a video and follow along well,” Peach explains.
Aside from the standard precautions of wearing masks and frequent handwashing, Owen and Peach are only permitted to visit one facility per day.
“Being previously able to visit multiple residences in a day allowed us to schedule our patients at times that worked well with their daily routines,” Owen says. “We have been required to co-ordinate quite a bit more between us to accommodate the residents across facilities who are pursuing care. We have less flexibility to adapt when things happen with little notice, such as if a family member has the chance to visit or if the resident has had a poor night of sleep.”
AIM Therapy’s personalized patient approach has a strong social component that complements the therapeutic care, especially for the older adults who they work with.
“We have built so much of our business on our strong relationships with our patients,” Owen says. “Personal interaction is really critical for us. We’re relying a lot on waves and thumbs-up gestures now that they can’t see our smiles behind our masks.”
Peach adds that this close client relationship also provides peace of mind for resident family members — in particular those who may not live locally and are unable to visit during these trying times.
“We get to know the families as well. We’re somebody they know and recognize. It’s been really hard on these families and we’re a friendly face.”
AIM Therapy is one of many alumni businesses featured in our MRU Alumni Buy Local business directory. If you know of an alumni business that should be added to this roster, please contact us.