Meet Rachel

Helping residents with decreased mobility, learning disabilities and long-term health conditions

Long-Term Health Conditions Coordinator Rachel Moodie. Text reads you're funding your community

I’m Rachel Moodie and have been working as a Long-Term Health Conditions Coordinator at Wokingham Borough Council for almost two years.

My role within the council’s Sport and Leisure Prevention Team is varied and fulfilling. I get to help borough residents living with decreased mobility, learning disabilities and long-term health conditions examples include; dementia, stroke, multiple sclerosis, COPD and motor neurone disease.

Patients are referred by their GP to become more confident and mobile through exercise, which will hopefully lead to more independent living and increased health and wellbeing.

Alongside coordinating referrals and running gym sessions for those with long-term health conditions, I run some other activities across Wokingham Borough.

Dementia-friendly tea dances

Our tea dances are free sessions which run monthly for borough residents living with dementia. The dances are held in the Ashridge Room at Cantley Park Café in Wokingham.

It offers a great opportunity for residents to make new friends, sing along, dance, play games and have fun – all while enjoying tea, coffee, and a slice of cake.

We play music from across the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s era and are always happy to take song requests! Songs by Elvis Presley, ABBA and Neil Diamond seem to be favourites and gets everyone dancing, either in their chairs or up on their feet.

Residents at dementia friendly tea dance dressed up for Halloween. They're sat around teh table smiling for the camera

On some of our themed sessions, such as Halloween, Easter, and Christmas, we all dress up for the occasion.

These sessions also offer great networking opportunities for carers who can meet other carers.

For more information and to book a place, email preventionteam@wokingham.gov.uk or call (0118) 974 3728.

Exercise to music

Each month, I run an ‘exercise to music’ class for CLASP, a self-advocacy group for people living with learning disabilities in the borough.

I work through a variety of routines aimed to get heart rates increased and the full body moving with CLASP members.

Some of their favourite songs to dance to includes, I’m Still Standing, Achey Breaky Heart, Reach For The Stars alongside other ‘90s hits.

I’m always taking suggestions for new songs from the group helping to make sure there is a song for everybody to enjoy! It’s a fun filled session which helps to get people moving and building endurance.

For more information, visit the CLASP website.

Love to move – for those living with dementia

This free exercise programme is run by Age UK and takes place once a month for residents living with dementia across the borough. I run the classes, which aim to get people moving and functioning better.

These classes are chair based gymnastic inspired movements to music, put together by the British Gymnastic Foundation. Through the sessions, we work on exercises to improve coordination, core strength, flexibility and brain training exercises.

Research has shown these exercises increase cognitive function, improve activities of daily living and reduce depression. The sessions also offer a great social element as we start off with tea’s, coffee’s and biscuits.

Where: Charvil Village Hall, RG10 9TR
When: Thursday 28 September
To book please contact email dementiawokingham@ageukberkshire.org.uk or call (0118) 959 4242

Seated exercise and boccia

Once a week I go into sheltered housing accommodation in the borough to run a seated exercise class and a boccia session. Using body weight exercises and resistance bands, we look to build and improve strength, balance, coordination, and cardiovascular endurance.

All residents are over 60 years old and some may find it difficult to attend other classes across the borough, so taking the class to their doorstep makes it much easier for people to get involved.

As well as the physical benefits from exercise, these sessions promote social interaction to help tackle loneliness and isolation.

Each of these sessions end with Boccia, which is a competitive game of seated bowls, where the room is split into two teams and aims to roll their ball as close as possible to the white ball. This game is a test of coordination and perception and is a firm favourite of the residents.

How I help residents

I love delivering these exercise sessions as I get to see firsthand the progress our residents are making – some of which are life changing successes.

For example, one of the borough’s sheltered housing classes I teach have made fantastic progress. The residents started off as a seated exercise group and now they have progressed to standing exercises such as s squats, calf raises, and lunges helping to build strength and improve their balance.

This ultimately helps them to become more mobile and independent when carrying out day-to-day living activities.

There’s a lady I have been working with for the past year who found it difficult to walk, and exercise - this was particularly heightened due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Recently, she has made huge strides as she has the confidence to walk to the Wokingham Leisure Centre and now swims every week.

By running these sessions, we empower and encourage residents to ‘find their feet again’ and give them the confidence to move freely whilst helping to improve their physical activity, mental health and wellbeing.

Additionally, these sessions help to assist the rising demands on adult social care by reducing the number of people needing long-term support, helping to ease the heightening pressure on the NHS.