AGE Group at Newcastle University helps older people rehabilitate after COVID-19

Older people who are recovering from COVID-19 infection in Newcastle received a boost to their rehabilitation this week courtesy of exercise training equipment provided by Newcastle University Sports Centre and the School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences at Newcastle University.

Dr Christopher Hurst, a postdoctoral research associate in the AGE Research Group funded by the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, this week coordinated delivery of a range of equipment loaned by the University to Eden Court, an NHS rehabilitation unit where Professor Miles Witham, honorary consultant geriatrician and Professor of Trials for Older People in the AGE research group, is currently deployed as part of the Newcastle COVID pandemic response.   

This additional equipment will help the NHS to provide exercise rehabilitation to older people recovering from COVID-19, and to do this whilst they are still isolated in single rooms and unable to access the unit gym. This means that rehabilitation can start earlier, helping older people recovering from COVID-19 to improve their strength and function and get home more quickly.

Exercise training represents an important component of rehabilitation for older adults, helping patients to return home quicker as well as counteracting the accelerated loss of muscle mass and strength (sarcopenia) resulting from inactivity. The AGE research group has a special interest in sarcopenia, and ongoing research within the group is focussed on understanding the causes and consequences of sarcopenia, and on translating these insights into new drug, nutrition and exercise interventions to prevent or reverse sarcopenia.

 More information about sport and exercise opportunities and facilities at Newcastle University can be found here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sport/

 More information on studying Sport and Exercise Science at Newcastle University can be found here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/bns/sport-exercise-science/ 

Last modified: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 09:34:51 BST