Peggy Thomas has a routine. Every Wednesday, the 83-year-old attends the Forever Young workout class at East Baton Rouge Parks and Recreation’s (BREC) North Sherwood Forest Community Park. The class allows her to stay physically and socially active through exercise—and gives her weekly opportunities to visit with her classmates.
Thomas started attending classes at BREC 25 years ago, after her daughter took a class and encouraged her to see her local facility. The Forever Young class takes place three times a week. Through its Adult Leisure program, BREC offers a variety of exercise classes, art workshops and social opportunities in multiple parks for people 55 and older.
“I have found that I stay in a pretty good mood throughout the day after doing these classes,” Thomas says. “I get to get out of my house, walk the track, take exercise classes and just talk to people every day. It really helps your mental health and makes you feel good.”
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Those in the aging population are at a greater risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness due to living alone, losing family or friends and declining health. These Adult Leisure programs allow seniors to engage with others while exercising their minds and bodies through a series of free or low-cost activities that help improve their overall health.
Blaine Imhoff, a program director at BREC who handles the Adult Leisure program, says the program exists to help foster a community of friendships among seniors while improving their health, minds and fine motor skills.
“Socialization is a huge reason for our Adult Leisure programs,” Imhoff says. “A lot of these folks do this as a part of their routine and plan their days around it as well. An after-class chat can turn into a coffee date or even an opportunity to walk the park with a new friend.”
Thomas says she and her other classmates would spend more time together outside of class before the pandemic started. Though these outings were interrupted, she still enjoys seeing familiar faces in class. These programs have been an excuse for Thomas to get out of the house for much needed socialization, which she knows is important at her age.
“You have to stay socially active to avoid getting lonely,” Thomas says. “I’m a widow and I live alone, so it makes a big difference to come here, see people and even meet new people.”
When you walk into the Forever Young workout class, it is clear that the students have formed a bond. You will see people greeting each other, helping each other gather equipment to set up for class and asking questions like, “How’s your sister doing?” Once the class begins, the students chat between exercises and check up on each other after a particularly active dance routine.
“They all know each other,” says instructor Pearline Stevens, who started teaching classes in 2020. “If one of them can’t keep up, you’ll have someone in the class that will work with them and help them get back on track. Everyone loves the class, and I love teaching it to them because I love seeing their progress.”
Other than providing opportunities for socialization, these types of classes provide older adults a great way to stay physically healthy by moving around. Stevens says she has seen an improvement in her students’ physical ability to do the routines.
Stevens says that her student Clarence Kado has improved significantly since joining the class. No matter what dance she introduces to the class, she knows Kado will be the one to pick up on the routine in no time. With his wife, sisters and grandchildren around, Kado says he does not attend classes out of loneliness but started going to the Adult Leisure program after he retired in 2005 so that he could routinely stay active.
“I stay busy with my family,” he says. “When the classes started up again during the pandemic, it gave me an opportunity to socialize with others outside my family again.”
Though both are 83 years old, Thomas and Kado can keep in rhythm when doing the two-step and or line dancing to songs like “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations.
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From chair aerobics to full dance routines, these older adults do not stop moving during the one-hour class. After it’s all over, most stay after to chat while others participate in an additional hour of line dances or take the time to walk laps on the indoor track.
These classes provide the older population with plenty of opportunities to stay physically healthy—but more importantly—socially active, Imhoff says. She hopes more seniors in Baton Rouge find out about the Adult Leisure program so that they, too, can stay healthy while socializing with neighbors and meeting new faces.
“Our classes provide more than just exercise or art projects,” Imhoff says. “It’s about building a community and a sense of connectedness that older adults may need the most. We have so many parks and facilities, so our seniors are able to find some classes that are close to home that allow them to build friendships with those in their community.”