Our care village at the heart of Atherton is rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. Combining a modern and high specification environment with people who really care, Belong Atherton ranks as one of the foremost nursing and dementia settings in the region. Pop in for a tour, enjoy a warm welcome and experience the Belong difference for yourself.
55 Mealhouse Lane, Atherton, Manchester M46 0EU
Sat Nav postcode for parking: M46 0EJ (Bag Lane)
Reception telephone: 01942 898 410
Belong Atherton offers a specialist exercise and rehabilitation service, run by our highly qualified exercise specialist, Jonathan Perrins.
Working with residents on a one-to-one basis, Jonathan carries out a thorough assessment and liaises with relevant health professionals before designing their individual exercise programme. His specialist qualifications include in obesity and diabetes, GP referrals and falls prevention.
Our gym is fully equipped with specialist exercise machines and technology. This includes giant mobile screens, viewed by residents while participating in exercise and transporting them overseas to view breathtaking scenery while cycling in the gym. The use of these technologies has extended periods of exercise on a machine so that now customers typically spend 15 minutes exercising rather than five.
The equipment also uses virtual reality games to offer clients targeted support, building strength, balance, cognition or movement, according to their needs assessment. Games are also designed to stimulate brain function, with different patterns for people with dementia, Parkinson’s or stroke sufferers. This feeds into the personalised exercise assessments, and is based on the science that when we engage our brains in a game in this way, it prompts our bodies to move almost ‘in spite of ourselves’.
Everyone who moves into a Belong Atherton 24-hour care household is assessed by our Exercise Specialist, Jonathan, and offered a personalised exercise or rehabilitation programme, designed to improve wellbeing and meet specific health goals.
Jonathan also works closely with other health professionals to ensure a joined up approach, maximise outcomes and ensure the safety of this service. Access to the exercise studio and one-to-one sessions with our exercise specialists are included within Belong’s care and support fees. Subject to capacity, the gym also offers sessions to apartment tenants and members of the wider community as a chargeable service.
Customer outcomes include seeing an increase in muscle strength, flexibility, balance and co-ordination; improvement in memory capacity and maintenance of everyday skills.
For most individuals, maintaining a core strength and skill base is what is achieved through a regular programme. The basic skill of standing up from a chair and walking can be lost if core strength is not maintained. A few simple technique changes, accompanied by a regular exercise programme suited for the individual, helps to improve lost skills and maintain strength capacity.
We regularly share success stories of the incredible improvements made by clients working with our exercise specialists, including some who have regained their mobility after being told by doctors that they would be unlikely to walk again.
One resident in her nineties regained mobility in order to be able to walk her daughter down the aisle and another got back to ballroom dancing in time for her 100th birthday. Another example is a cerebral palsy sufferer who improved his balance, strength and co-ordination, reducing the number of falls he experiences.