Agreement on the health promotion of older people in Hafnarfjörður

The Mayor of Hafnarfjörður and Janus Guðlaugsson signed a partnership agreement earlier today between the municipality and Janus Heilsueflingu Ltd, for a year and a half, in connection with health promotion for up to 160 residents of Hafnarfjörður aged 65 and over. This involves endurance training, which takes place once a week at the athletics hall at Kaplakriki, and strength training, which takes place twice a week in the Reebok Fitness gym at Ásvallalaug.

 „One of the challenges in modern societies is to keep the „young people“ who have reached their seventies active and to meet their needs in that regard. It has been shown both at home and abroad that projects like this are very useful tools in the fight against all sorts of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, for example. They also aim for people to be able to remain in their own homes for as long as possible, “to enable people to carry out activities of daily living for as long as possible and to maintain or increase their quality of life in later years,„ says Rannveig Einarsdóttir, Director of Family Services for Hafnarfjörður, where the project is managed on behalf of the council. “We therefore have high expectations for this collaboration and anticipate a high level of participation.".

 Each participant will receive an individualised training programme, created following assessments of their fitness, strength and physical condition. Training sessions will take place in small groups under the guidance of professional staff. In addition to endurance and strength training, participants will also be offered talks on healthy eating and lifestyle.

 The agreement is part of the council's focus on encouraging and empowering its residents to lead active and healthy lifestyles.

The project in question is a collaboration between the City of Hafnarfjörður, Janus Heilsuefling ehf, the Association of Senior Citizens of Hafnarfjörður and the Sports Federation of Hafnarfjörður.

To learn more about the matter, an information meeting will be held at Hraunsel við Flatahraun on Thursday, 25th January at 2 p.m. At the meeting, people will also have the opportunity to register to participate.

In the picture are Rannveig Einarsdóttir, Head of Family Services for Hafnarfjörður; Janus Guðlaugsson from Janus Health Promotion; Mayor Haraldur L. Haraldsson; and Guðrún Frímannsdóttir, Head of Support Services for Hafnarfjörður.