SPOTLIGHT ON OUR ANCILLARY PROGRAMS InSHAPE

MARSHA RICH, PROGRAM MANAGER

The InSHAPE program supports participants with increasing physical activity and modifying eating habits to help them facilitate improvements in their physical and mental health. Although the program was shortstaffed for more than half of 2022, InSHAPE was able to provide individual and/or group interventions for more than 130 individuals in Riverbend’s Community Support Program (CSP).

Individual physical activities included exercising at the YMCA or other gyms, walking, snowshoeing, hiking, and developing home exercise routines. With the loosening of Covid restrictions, InSHAPE was able to offer outdoor group physical activities such as apple picking, mini golf, “Fun in the Sun” games in the park and fielding an InSHAPE team for Concord Hospital’s Rock ‘n Race. InSHAPE also offered indoor groups at Twitchell House and the West Street Ward House, as well as telehealth group yoga.

Nutritional education included instructing participants in choosing and preparing foods that bring them closer to attaining their health goals. Common activities included trips to the grocery store, cooking projects, conducting web searches to obtain health-conscious recipes and nutritional information, and developing strategies for portion control and healthy snacking.

from InSHAPE and started paying for their own gym membership which they continue to regularly use. Other clients progressed, this past year, from individual weekly meetings to monthly or bimonthly accountability checks or group-only support. Some InSHAPE participants have paired up with each other to walk or attend the gym. Many have lost pounds and/or inches, while others have made significant changes to their eating and physical activity habits.

The energetic InSHAPE staff continues to educate, support, encourage and model healthy living activities for CSP clients through 2023 and beyond!

Watch this moving video featuring staff, clients, clients’ families and supported employment employers who highlight the important work that the Supported Employment Program has to offer!

Increasing independence and establishing sustainable wellness habits is a major goal of the InSHAPE Program. So, during 2022 six participants “graduated”