Jennifer Gilchrist started out as a high school athlete in Burnaby, she says.
Today, she uses her sports skills to help seniors stay fit and healthy, Gilchrist, owner of Lifetime Leisure, adds.
"We use recreational activities and leisure for seniors, and individuals with illnesses or disabling conditions, to improve their physical, social, mental and emotional well-being," she says of her company.
While the main focus is on physical exercise - working on balance, muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance - Gilchrist's primary concern for her clients is to keep them engaged.
"I knew that there were seniors that were falling through the cracks, people that were in their homes and they needed people like us who had counseling skills and who understood that they could be exercising," she says, "so that we could help them in the community so that they could stay longer in their homes.
"That's kind of my passion, to prevent that social isolation," Gilchrist adds.
In 2006, Gilchrist worked in a long-term care home and saw a niche in the community - therapeutic recreation. She started a department in White Rock, and managed it, but she decided she wanted to bring similar programs to people who were still in their homes.
In 2009, she started Lifetime Leisure.
Gilchrist and her staff assess new clients at their homes, and then help them with a variety of techniques including guided imagery for stress, depression or early onset dementia; progressive muscular relaxation; exercise programs; and they help the client connect with the community by acting as a liaison with community centres.
In terms of exercise, Gilchrist points out that improving balance is especially important for preventing falls, and injuries like hip fractures.
She focuses on exercises that are easy to do in the home, using Thera-Bands, light dumbbells and resistance exercises, using body weight and working against gravity, Gilchrist says.
Her company also helps the client and their family find the support they need within the community, whether it is connecting a family with the Alzheimer's Society or helping someone with a brain injury find a support group, Gilchrist says.
"That's where we really come in, with families especially, helping them understand too what's available for their well being because they're the ones who are dealing with the person at home," she explains. "Every single client I have, I work with their family, as well."
Gilchrist is working on a pilot project, which she plans to do pro-bono, in the northeast area of Burnaby, where she lives.
She's in the process of organizing a walking group from Burnaby Mountain Golf Course, with breakfast at Eagle Creek Restaurant - the walking group would be free, with a small fee for the meal, she explains.
"It's a social program as well as physical," she explains, adding she plans to make it a walker and wheelchair friendly jaunt in the Squint Lake area, with two therapeutic recreation specialists on hand.
"I want to establish that walking group and grow it, and have it be a part of Burnaby," she adds.
Gilchrist, who has a background as a personal trainer, has her diploma in therapeutic recreation and is the process of completing her bachelor's through Douglas College.
For more information about Lifetime Leisure, go to www.lifetimeleisure.ca.
