Olympic spirit shines at STARS
STARS patient Sandy with her winning medal in the Olympic inspired events.
To celebrate the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, the STARS Allied Health team organised a range of fun events for patients and staff to get into the Olympic spirit.
The Olympic themed activities kicked off with a torch relay and opening ceremony held in the rehabilitation gym.
Throughout the week patients participated in Olympic inspired events including timed sit-to-stands, walking slalom races, bean bag shot put, timed box and block testing and word games
Director of Physiotherapy Haylee Kajewski found that patients really enjoyed the themed activities.
“The chosen activities are all things that normally form part of a patient’s rehabilitation here at STARS, but having the Olympic theme has provided an added sense of fun and competition for patients,” Haylee said.
“Rehabilitation can be physically and emotionally challenging for patients, so anything we can do to make it more enjoyable is so worthwhile.”
Physiotherapy Team Leader Angela Williamson noticed that some patients increased their engagement and participation in therapy activities, as a result of the Olympic theme.
One of the patients who particularly enjoyed the sport themed activities was Sandy who won a gold medal in the walking slalom race. For Sandy it brought back memories of competing in the swimming in the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand.
“At the 1974 Commonwealth Games I won a gold in the 200m butterfly, silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in the 100m butterfly,” Sandy said.
“Anyone can do it, no matter what their circumstances are, you just have to want to do it.”
“You don’t worry about going backwards, we all go backwards. We have to go backwards to be able to go forwards.”
As well as events for patients, staff also got into the action with their own events including a very amusing hobby horse dressage competition.