DESIGN
Playing
Around Getting outside is just as important in youth as in old age, and that is why the senior exercise park research initiative began.
enior exercise parks are multigenerational outdoor exercise equipment that incorporates exercise stations that target balance, function, movement, strength and a range of motion explicitly suited for older adults. Senior exercise parks are not new to Asia and Europe, though they are scarce in New Zealand. In Asia, outdoor exercise for seniors is ingrained, but Western countries have not fully grasped this concept yet. Lark Industries’ managing director Harri Makela said senior exercise parks were first launched in Europe by Finnish company Lappset. The first request came from the Catalonian government in Spain, and physiotherapists and playground developers created it. “We are spending more time indoors than what’s good for us as humans,” said Makela. “So, the idea is to get people outdoors.” Not to replace gyms but to work hand in hand with them. “In a retirement village or aged care facility, there’s space for indoor gym, but senior exercise parks are designed to work in outdoors,” Makela explained. Since installations began in 2006, there are now more than 1000 senior exercise parks in Catalonia - the largest concentration in Europe. So many are being built because the provincial government evaluated that every euro invested in these parks saves six euros in reduced hospitalisation.
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Village Business
According to Makela, there are approximately 50 senior exercise parks in Australia, about 20 in retirement villages. Since 2006, Lark Industries has installed about four or five in New Zealand. “They’re becoming more popular, but we’re only supplying one at a time,” said Makela. “There are a lot of things hindering the government’s ability to adopt this type of thinking.” Makela claims that the state government said the policies are written in a way that doesn’t allow the government to invest in these infrastructures - it can only invest in programmes, like meals on wheels. “There’s no strategy, no policy that allows the government to invest in these infrastructures, so there’s a long way to go before Australia and New Zealand catch up to Europe.” As with the rest of the world, the fastest-growing demographic in Australia and New Zealand is retirees. “On a government level, we are surprised how few of the council’s budget is for outdoor public space specifically for seniors,” said Makela. There are four main age groups; children, teens, working adults and seniors. The two that get the most budget, on average, are children and workingage adults. “We see this shift slowly, but there needs to be major changes in the next 10-20 years,” said Makela. This slow shift is part of why the equipment used by NARI is multigenerational. Designed so the grandparents could exercise while the grandchildren play on the same equipment. However, because it looks like playground equipment, Makela believes there is some initial embarrassment around using the equipment. “This is why we are sponsoring local
