Sparo Health Offers Free Online Fitness Classes to Senior Living Communities
April 27, 2020
ST. LOUIS, MO–During the last several weeks, senior living communities and other long term care facilities have been been hit hard by COVID-19. During this uncertain time, these facilities have had to focus primarily on keeping residents safe and keeping families connected and updated.
As we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, residents in long term care facilities remain the most at risk. While we continue to focus on safety, we must also consider how to start preparing residents to get back to their normal activities—as they have likely been more sedentary than usual during this time.
To help communities navigate the next phase of the pandemic, Sparo Health is offering a complementary 8-week trial period of Lift Functional Fitness to all senior living communities.
Lift Functional Fitness is an online fitness and wellness program specifically designed for seniors to stay active, healthy, and independent. The on-demand platform includes a wide variety of expert-led classes that can be accessed on any device. Residents can participate right at home, by following the recommended weekly class schedule based on their physical abilities or choosing from the full library of hundreds of Lift classes. Everything from endurance and strength to chair boxing and chair yoga are available, all taught by licensed physical therapists and expert fitness instructors.
Separate dashboards are available for resident families to see their family member’s participation and progress and for community administrators to identify individuals that may need additional encouragement or support. Lift’s Customer Success department can help residents that aren’t “tech-savvy” to access and navigate the website over the phone.
“For our seniors, a sedentary lifestyle can result in significant muscle atrophy, which comes with difficulty returning to normal daily activities,” said Abby Cohen, Co-CEO of Sparo Health. “We want to help our seniors become even stronger and healthier than they were before COVID so they can get back to participating in the activities they love, like golfing, fishing, and social events, as things begin to reopen. The last thing we want is for people to be held back, not because of stay-at-home restrictions, but because they have lost too much of their strength and stamina during this crisis. This is where we can help by providing Lift Functional Fitness as a resource for our seniors.”
Founded in 2012 and located in St. Louis, Sparo Health is a digital health company dedicated to helping people stay independent and active as they age. Sparo’s primary product, Lift Functional Fitness, is an online fitness and wellness platform for seniors. Sparo Health works closely with senior living communities, long term care facilities, hospitals, and clinics to provide Lift programs to residents and patients.
Sparo Health has been recognized nationally and internationally, winning over 10 awards for their work, founders and Co-CEOs Abby Cohen and Andrew Brimer were named to the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 healthcare list.