Residents conquer Everest
More than a thousand aged care residents have walked almost 20,000 kilometres over four weeks – with some having to take to the basement during the cyclone to keep on track – in a bid to summit Mount Everest and beat their counterparts.
The Everest 2025 competition hosted by allied health provider Guide Healthcare has attracted 1,645 residents from 74 aged care facilities across Australia and involved participants summitting Mount Everest multiple times over four weeks.
Taking place from 3-28 March, the hike from Lukla in Nepal spans 85 kilometres, five towns and a series of camps to the peak of Everest – which residents covered daily in walking tracks at their respective aged care homes.
Residents competed as a team for their home to see how many times they could conquer Everest, and collectively they walked a total of 17,920 kilometres.
Physiotherapist and Guide Healthcare general manager Matthew Reinbott said he and the team have been astounded by the level of participation.
“We’d hope to achieve 1,000 participants but to hit 1,645 is beyond our dreams. Guide Healthcare has always wanted to use creativity to impact as many residents as we can but to see the sort of distances achieved shows that residents are wanting to be active,” Mr Reinbott told Australian Ageing Agenda.
“I don’t think many people in the community would have thought an aged care resident could achieve over 100km in four weeks, yet everyone in the top 10 exceeded that distance, and one even hit 419km.
This event and similar initiatives from Guide Health such as residents running marathons aim to inspire residents to stay active.
Without encouragement residents become accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle, said Mr Reinbott.
“That has great impacts on their cardiovascular health, musculoskeletal impacts of atrophying muscles, and a reduction in bone density, reduced respiratory health and all of this can lead to an increase in chronic conditions.
“We obviously highlight the greatest achievements, but I love hearing the stories of someone just starting with some movement, maybe they’re doing some arm exercises, and that starts a cascading effect on their wellbeing.”
Among them is Derek Thompson, 97, from Southern Cross Care’s St Joseph’s Aged Care in Tweed Heads, which has shared his story on LinkedIn.
After being unable to walk for the past year, Mr Thompson became inspired to take part in the challenge and through weeks of training, increased his walking distance from 5 meters on day one to 30 meters by the end of the competition.
“I’m 97, but I feel 81! Now, I’m going to keep walking every day so I can chase the ladies,” he said.
It’s great to see practical results of this vision like this and the team is looking forward to hearing more about Mr Thompson’s ongoing journey, said Mr Reinbott.
Event promotes wellbeing
In addition to physical benefits, these events aim to promote the greater wellbeing picture and help address areas like emotional and social needs of residents.
“A major benefit from this event that I have seen is the community spirit. I have heard stories of residents cheering others on whilst they’re doing laps within the facility, and during the cyclone residents were in the underground carpark doing laps,” Mr Reinbott said. “Those stories aren’t just physical benefits but promoting a larger physiological and psychosocial impact.”
These are among initiatives that will be showcased at Australian Ageing Agenda‘s Positive Ageing Summit next month, where Guide Healthcare founder and managing director Simon Kerrigan is talking about reablement and restorative care and the value of allied health.
The participation and outcomes of these events show that residents want allied health input, Mr Reinbott said.
“They want to have a purpose, a community, they want to feel young again and do the things that they once did. I always come back to residents are people, and our loved ones,” he told AAA.
“If providers read the stories and see the enjoyment that these events, and allied health in general, can bring then it’s not just exercise that they are investing in but that greater holistic picture of wellness for residents.”
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