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Our CALA Training
Experience
By Katie Zatorski & Andra Hughes
Katie
and I are proud employees of AON. AON owns and operates (among many
other venues) 4 retirement homes in Peterborough Ontario. With the
addition of their newest building, Canterbury Gardens, which opened
in January 2009, Katie and I found ourselves with the luxury of
having a 94 degrees F., therapeutic, salt water pool at our
disposal.
Katie is the Activity
Director at Canterbury Gardens, and I am the Wellness Coordinator
for the 4 AON retirement homes. Even Katie with her extensive
recreation background, and myself with years of land fitness
training, we had found ourselves challenged with something that was
totally new and different. How to keep retired, older adults, safe,
enthused, motivated, fit and did I mention safe…in this wonderful
setting.
Over the past years, both
our comfort level and skill level has dramatically increased, thanks
to the training we have undergone with CALA Inc.. We are 100%
confident that our Gardens of Peterborough retired residents, are
getting the best aquatic fitness leadership around.
Our CALA journey began in
May of 2011 when we travelled to Ottawa on a Sunday afternoon to
join Dylan for an afternoon Aqua Arthritis Workshop. We had both
been leading various aquatic classes on a daily basis, but were
interested in this workshop as a very high percentage of our
residents are dealing with one form of arthritis or another. We
were so impressed at how many new skills we were able to learn and
take back to Peterborough, just from this one workshop. The
residents were also excited to change up some of their existing
favorite aquatic programs. Our next step was, of course, the CALA
Foundations of Vertical Water Training, that we were able to take
shortly after in June. This very in depth, weekend long course,
gave us more understanding of all of the characteristics of water
movement, and why it is one of the best ways to help our residents
include physical activity in their routine… even with limitations on
the land!
Because of the population
we work with every day, Healing Waters: Aquatic Post Rehabilitation
was the logical next step, in the CALA training process. In
February of 2012, we successfully completed the Healing Waters
course, including the practical assessment and theory exams. The
Healing Waters program, gave Katie and I the specific knowledge to
know how to challenge a resident with COPD or arthritis, while
keeping someone who is just recovering from heart surgery safe….all
in the same class! We now have the confidence, to design, and
implement a variety of safe and effective aquatic programs to our
residents every day. Whether through a Gentle Aqua Fit, Aqua-cise
or Aqua Yoga class, our residents are being challenged, having fun
and experiencing all of the many benefits of the warm water. Many
older adults in our community have chosen to stay at Canterbury
Gardens to experience the benefits of aquatic exercise, while they
recover from a fall or from surgery. We also welcome other AON
residents from the Princess, the Empress and Royal Gardens to our
aqua therapy program. The social interaction amongst the
participants before and after each CALA class is palpable. We
absolutely love it. The CALA philosophy of “encouraging the mind to
discover, the body to move and the spirit to soar” is alive and well
at our therapy pool.
It is so amazing to be able
to learn, and implement skills that will help people have a better
quality of life. To see a person get out of a wheel chair, get into
the pool, and have the freedom they did not have on land, is a truly
spectacular thing.
We are proud to be members
of CALA Inc.. Proud of the education and skills we have developed
through their training, and very excited to be able to experience
our first CALA conference in the months to come!
CALA Host Affiliate
Model
If you did not find a
current offering for the course, specialty or workshop that you are interested in, why not
consider hosting the event at your facility. The
new CALA Host Affiliate Model provides all the information and assistance you
need to make your event successful.
 CALA helps you:
- Organize the training event quickly and
efficiently
- Choose the training course that best meets
your needs
- Learn about the latest in Aquafitness and
Aquatic Rehabilitation trends, research and programming ideas
- Earn income for your facility by hosting
events
- Provide options for subsidizing your
staff
Tell CALA What You
Need
- To assist CALA in providing the best service possible, CALA
asks that you complete 'Training
Request Form' and fax or mail it back to CALA.
Summary 'At a Glance'
Booking a CALA Event is
SIMPLE and SEAMLESS!
Benefits
Of Hosting A CALA Event
 Partnering with a firmly established
company with a strong reputation for excellence- Offering state of the art, leading edge
programs based on skillful leadership and participant satisfaction
- Earning income for your facility
- Integrating new programs while maintaining
and respecting the status quo of existing leaders, trainers and classes
- Streamlining leadership development with a
proven system of foundation and specialty courses, conferences, guest
classes and workshops
- Saving thousands of dollars by identifying
the essential equipment only - learning to use the water as the training
tool
- Eliminating storage requirements of
equipment
- Providing ongoing research and development
- Producing trend-setting programs to keep
leaders and participants satisfied and motivated
- Creating a network of mentors to coach new
leaders
- Building a community of leaders and
participants who work together to create an inclusive and supportive team
spirit
- Selecting appropriate programs for your
facility, from a wide range of classes, to meet the diverse needs of the
population
- Creating a ‘centre of excellence’ for
aquafitness and associated programs within the facility
- Building a library of resources accessible
to leaders, participants and other members of the community
- Offering subsidized, custom designed staff
training
Hosting A CALA
Event Training Request
download
a copy of the Training Request
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