Healthy Aging Helps to Reduce Healthcare Costs

In the spirit of leading positive change within our community and beyond, the Wellness Institute endeavours to develop and improve health-promoting programs and share expertise with other lifestyle medicine providers.

Wellness is actively engaged as a partner with the Seven Oaks Hospital Chronic Disease Innovation Centre including studies conducted with Wellness members, review of programs by medical researchers, and consultation on the development of new and innovative programs for Wellness members and clients.

Wellness is being recognized as a leader, not just in supporting healthy aging, but in the prevention and management of chronic disease in Canada and internationally. In Canada, chronic disease rates have been increasing at 14% per year since 2001, but the problems of aging populations and changing lifestyle mean that health authorities worldwide are looking for solutions.

Wellness increasingly finds itself in the role of training people to deliver programming for older adults, including specialty training for Fitness Leaders in Manitoba to gain their “Active Older Adult Certification” as well as  training for other agencies and professionals in Canada, the US, and more recently in China on exercise guidelines for older adults and special populations. Our Get Better Together master trainers teach healthcare providers and volunteers to lead programs for managing chronic conditions across Manitoba.

Wellness Institute is the host site for Active Living Coalition for Older Adults in Manitoba which supports the peer-led
promotion of healthy aging, and serves as a roundtable for dialogue on policy and programs with organizations and agencies that serve older adults. Wellness has 20 Active Aging Ambassadors that act as role models, media spokespeople and volunteers to promote active and healthy aging.

This role as a leader, educator and provider of innovative programs for healthy aging is growing as Wellness and the Chronic Disease Innovation Centre grow together and make the case for investing in healthy aging and chronic disease management and prevention.

Recently, the Wellness Institute announced the development of a comprehensive new program for modern and effective diabetes education including individual exercise prescription to launch within a year.

As a medical fitness facility based at a hospital, the Wellness Institute has regular medical oversight for all its programs and services, which are evaluated for their effectiveness and reviewed regularly based on the latest research.