Exercise for Frail Elders Online CE Course 2nd Edition

Course components can be delivered as printed products or online:

• Exercise for Frail Elders, Second Edition text

• Continuing education exam

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you should be able to do the following:

• Recognize characteristics and exercise and safety tips for 15 common medical disorders and special needs in the frail elderly as well as all adults,

• Implement tips and strategies for participants dealing with sensory, cognitive, and communication issues; and

• Define balance, core, and agility and integrate them into the exercise program.

• Implement a safe exercise session, class, or program that incorporates one or more exercise components—warm-up, resistance training, aerobics, and cool-down

Exercise for Frail Elders, Second Edition CE Course provides information and tools for promoting functional movement and abilities in frail elderly clients with special medical conditions and needs. The course covers resistance training, aerobic training, dynamic balance, stretching, relaxation, and the planning and implementation of successful exercise programs. It also features teaching aids and educational handouts.

Specific guidelines, precautions, and safety recommendations are given for the following conditions: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, arthritis, cerebrovascular accident, COPD, coronary artery disease, depression, diabetes, hip fracture and replacement and knee replacement, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease, sensory losses, and traumatic head injury.

The accompanying text, Exercise for Frail Elders, Second Edition, includes reproducible appraisals, questionnaires, checklists, and updated guidelines and safety precautions for range of motion, resistance training, aerobic exercise, and stretching for those with chronic disease conditions. Students also gain access to more than 150 photos that feature specific exercise instructions, variations, and progressions to interest and challenge participants.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Best-Martini, MS, CTRS, is a certified recreational therapist in the field of fitness, aging, wellness, and long-term care. Best-Martini is the owner of Recreation Consultation, a firm that provides training and recreational therapy consultation to retirement communities, skilled nursing settings, subacute settings, and residential and assisted care facilities in northern California. Her practice includes Fit For Life one-to-one personal training for adults and older adults.

Best-Martini specializes in working with adults with special needs and brings more than 30 years of experience as a rehabilitation therapist to this work. In addition to consulting, she lectures and provides training throughout the United States and Canada. She also teaches a weekly seated strength training class in an assisted living setting.

Best-Martini is an instructor at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California, where she teaches courses in strength, flexibility, and balance for adults and older adults. She trains new fitness instructors in the Exercise for Adults with Special Needs Fitness Instructor Training and Certification course through the American Senior Fitness Association. In addition, she facilitates the Activity Coordinator Training course, which certifies students through the Department of Public Health to become activity coordinators working with older adults and frail elders.

She has authored two other texts: the sixth edition of Long-Term Care for Activity Professionals, Social Services Professionals, and Recreational Therapists and Quality Assurance for Activity Programs. Best-Martini also writes a column focusing on fitness and wellness programs for older adults in Creative Forecasting, a national newsletter for activity professionals and recreational therapists.

In 2006 and 2008, Best-Martini received the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) Member of the Year Award. She was awarded the 1998 Distinguished Merit Award from the Northern California Council of Activity Coordinators (NCCAC) and the Pete Croughan Award for her volunteer efforts with the nonprofit organization Love Is The Answer (LITA). She also served on the Visionary Advisory Board for the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA).

In her free time, Best-Martini can be found gardening, hiking, exercising, and spending time with her husband, family, and many pets. She lives in Fairfax, California.

Kim A. Jones-DiGenova, MA, received her master’s degree in physical education (exercise physiology) and the Distinguished Achievement in a Major Field Award from San Francisco State University. She is a physical education instructor at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California, where she teaches courses on strength and fitness training for older adults. She also is a health and fitness consultant and personal trainer in the San Francisco and San Rafael metropolitan areas.

Jones-DiGenova has been working in the fitness field since 1971. She is an ACSM-certified health fitness specialist; SFA-certified senior personal trainer, senior fitness instructor, and long-term care fitness leader; Arthritis Foundation exercise program instructor; and YMCA strength training instructor trainer. She is the Northern California academic administrator for the American Senior Fitness Association and has developed and implemented resistance training pprograms in several convalescent, retirement, and senior facilities throughout California. Jones-DiGenova has also assisted handicapable adults with weight training, aerobic exercise, and stress reduction at the Recreation Center for the Handicapped in San Francisco. In addition to her work on Exercise for Frail Elders, Jones-DiGenova is a regular contributor to national and local newsletters.

Jones-DiGenova resides in Novato, California. She enjoys spending time with family and friends and reading. She stays active by walking, hiking, swimming, weight training, and practicing yoga. She has swum from the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and has escaped from Alcatraz many times.