Meet me @ the Gym

An exercise programme that can advance the return to society for people with brain injuries

Each year, approximately 130,000 Dutch people acquire a form of brain injury. When their rehabilitation is finished, sport and physical activity can advance their return to society. Meet me @ the Gym is an exercise programme, devised by the Brain Foundation and the Edwin van der Sar Foundation, that especially serves their needs.

Meet me @ the Gym offers fitness companies the possibility to acquire a certificate that represents a safe and effective guidance for people with brain injury. The certificate will be issued after attending an education programme in which knowledge, skills, and attitudes are offered to participants that want to work as motion experts for clients with brain injuries in so-called ‘Active Prevention centres’.

Results

From 2014 to present, 175 motion experts were trained and almost a 100 prevention centres have been approved to guide clients with brain injury in a protocolled manner. Almost 100 fitness centres in the Netherlands now offer sports programmes for people with brain injury. Their clients can do practices in a quiet environment, without disturbing elements and with the personal help of a trained professional. For most clients, their main concern is the correction of one lateral side of the body. During the intake, the needs of the client become clear and personal guidelines are made of what client and motion expert will be working on. This approach provides the possibility for all clients to move at their own level.

Future goals

Now the centres must try to draw the target group in. The next goal of the project is to establish transition via rehabilitation centres, general practitioners, and patients associations. Therefore, a connection is made with Hersenz, a Dutch consortium of health organizations that gathers knowledge on the brain. Hersenz has a treatment programme which includes a module ‘in motion’ for people with chronic brain injury. The project hopes to achieve that at the end of their treatment, these groups would go for a tour to a prevention centre in the neighbourhood. In this way, the threshold can be lowered.

Contact

Would you like to know more about Meet me at the gym? Please contact us for more information.

www.meet-me-at-the-gym.nl
Maurice Brederode
E-mail: maurice.brederode@edwinvandersarfoundation.nl
Telephone: +31 (0)71 760 00 76