Sharing ideas leads to sharing exercises
Kristian Partington

During a recent Schlegel Villages quarterly meeting when kinesiologists from the villages connected to share ideas and approaches to functional abilities programming, Cassie Collins of the Village of Taunton Mills shared the idea of the Octaband with the group.

Residents at the Village of Tansley Woods build strength together using the unique Octaband.

The Octaband is a brightly-coloured, 16-armed interactive tool for use in exercise and dance therapy. The arms stretch out and create tension from a central hub and it helps people build individual strength in an interactive way.

Ripu Mangat is the kinesiologist at the Village of Tansley Woods and is always looking for new ways to stimulate people in her group workouts, and she was instantly intrigued by the idea of the Octaband.

In September, the group at Tansley Woods began using one and Ripu hasn’t looked back.

She says the exercises they do are a safe, effective and, most importantly, fun way to gain strength as a group, and the Octaband appeals to people who have cognitive impairments the same as those who are fully cognitive.  

“It’s a lot of fun and the more fun it is, the more (residents) want to do it,” says Ripu, noting that she’s often asked if the Octaband is coming out for the group classes.

The fact the tool is interactive and co-operative enhances the experience for everyone who participates, she says.

“You don’t have to rely on others to build your strength but at the same time, you all get to work together,” she says.

“There are activities that we do with having balls in the middle of the circle and doing team building by keeping the ball up together, or in order for the tension to even work, everybody has to be holding on.”

According to the Octaband website, the tool is used across a number of therapy spectrums with great success, but has been proven especially effective for children who have physical or intellectual disabilities and elderly people who have Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.  

Ten per cent of net profits from the sale of all Octabands are donated to dementia research.

For more information visit the Octaband website.

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