Adapting to Aging: The Power of Physical Therapy and the Potential of the Goodnow Healthy Aging Center

Bo is “just the best dog ever,” but he’s also a rambunctious 96-pound Goldendoodle who tips Betty Brandt over occasionally.

“I’m getting stronger for Bo,” the Fort Benton woman said. “I need to be able to walk him and throw the ball without losing my balance. I need to stay off my head and maintain my independence.”

Healthcare has long focused on caring for the frail elderly. The Goodnow Healthy Aging Center, now in development thanks to ongoing donor support, will focus on helping seniors continue to do what gives their lives joy and meaning. In Betty’s case, it is physical therapy focused on helping her meet her goals so she can remain at home with her husband and Bo.

Betty felt shy when she first began physical therapy, but Bo provided enough motivation to get her in the door. She found a team focused on her goals, and her fears that she would seem “backwards” or that people would look askance at a woman in her early 80s exercising at the therapy gym proved unfounded.

“When people see you working out, they are impressed,” Benefis Physical Therapist Brian Knutson told Betty. “We’re all older people in training. The sooner we start on balance and building strength, the longer we can maintain our independence.”

Mobility matters: Will you be a supporter of a fitter future for local seniors through the Goodnow Healthy Aging Center? Give online today at Benefis.org/Give.

A physical therapy program specializing in adaptations for aging folks is under development for the Goodnow Healthy Aging Center, as is a therapy gym and outdoor space for practicing on uneven surfaces and real-life challenges. The space will be centered on older patients so no one feels intimidated and to foster togetherness. Through their generosity, donors will shape what the space can become.

Many adults on their aging journey face a level of systemic ageism across multiple domains, and that includes mobility, Brian said. Those negative stereotypes do affect our health, well-being, and longevity.

“Unfortunately, this can occur when they attend physical therapy as well. The aging population is often ‘undertreated’ by therapies due to a relative increase of comorbidities and conditions as we age. These are people with bodies and minds seeking to be challenged because so much is at stake if health declines. It could be argued it's more dangerous NOT to challenge them,” he said. “Limiting challenges to our minds and bodies leads to bone/muscle weakness, isolation, cognitive decline, advancement of disease, loss of independence, increased risk of falling with injury, among many other things.

“The Healthy Aging Center is about creating a space where aging is celebrated and not stereotyped, where boundaries are challenged, dignity is honored, and independence is respected in line with a person’s meaningful goals to live their healthiest life,” he said.

For Betty, Brian developed a “crazy dog simulation” with a harness he pulls and releases so she can work the muscles she needs to develop. She practices lifting her feet and developing trunk stability.

“My balance is better now,” she said. “I could be standing still and still lose my balance, and my feet weren’t moving fast enough to catch me anymore. I’ve been falling on my head for years, and it caught up with me.”

Betty has grit, and she’s fighting for a healthier future every time she does PT.

She wants to stay on her feet and keep her heart strong. She wants to give Bo a good life, and she wants to remain in her home. She would like her future to hold more fishing, tending her yard, canning fruit, and other skills she learned from her foster grandmother, a role model for her on the importance of staying active for life. She has descendants all the way to a great-great-granddaughter and needs to be able to travel to see them.

Learn more about the Goodnow Healthy Aging Center on our blog following the project.