KEEP+ Accessible Chair Yoga RICS project

KEEP+ (European Union Regional Development Fund) application to work with Accessible Chair Yoga CIC (Community Interest Company, a social enterprise), co-founder and director Liz Oppedijk.

This project will evaluate the effectiveness of a seated yoga programme designed for older people living in care homes. This study follows a successful six-month pilot project which delivered a regular programme of seated yoga to five Hertfordshire care homes. The pilot demonstrated the feasibility of a seated yoga programme as a wellness intervention. The aim now is to undertake a rigorous research study that will investigate the impact of engaging in seated yoga twice a week over a period of two months for care home residents. The study will follow both residents with a dementia diagnosis and residents who do not have a dementia diagnosis.
This study will focus on the measures of movement and mood before and after the yoga intervention. Findings will create an evidence base that demonstrates the effects of chair yoga with the elderly care home population. Publication of the study outcomes in a scientific journal will provide evidence for care home managers, residents, relatives, yoga practitioners and health professionals of the impact for elderly residents in care homes of participating in seated yoga.
Outcomes of the study will inform the delivery of the service (an accessible form of yoga) in the health and wellbeing sector. Accessible Chair Yoga will use the evidence base as a means of curating its services to ensure maximum benefit to its users. The information, including the training of teachers to deliver the service in care homes, will be important to support Accessible Chair Yoga to develop and expand its service throughout the region and eventually the rest of the UK.