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Roper's Move It program helps those with chronic illness get "moving"


Roper's Move It program helps those with chronic illness get moving
Roper's Move It program helps those with chronic illness get moving
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CHARLESTON, S.C. ( WCIV) -- It's a program that gets people out of the house,{}off the couch,{}and exercising.

The Move It program from Roper St. Francis and the Charleston County Parks helps those with chronic illnesses{}to{}exercise and become stronger, more in shape and learn to love working out. {}

"Everybody ready,{}the clock is ticking," said Dave Wolff, one of the Move It instructors during a series of aerobics.Time for Paul Johnson, one of the participants, and the others in his class to start moving. The group does a little bit of everything, including{}working on strength and balance.

"We had Dave...Dave is tough on us really but it was good," Johnson said.

But Johnson is always up for the challenge. This cancer survivor was referred to the program after suffering from back pain.

"When I came in today, I was achy," said Johnson. "I felt like my lower back was aching and stiffness but after I came in and worked out now I feel great."He admits he never wants to miss a class, which is twice a week."It's great,{}we have fun, we laugh, we joke but meantime we are serious about the program,"{}Johnson said.Johnson is one of 130 participants who have a variety of medical illnesses in the physician-referred part of this program

"Obesity, arthritis, diabetes, hypertension --{}those are very common reasons," said Dr. Valerie Scott of{}Roper St. Francis. "A couple of people with emphysema who do the program and have some that are just frankly overweight and are in such bad conditioning that they are not ready for other programs. You take people who were basically terrified of exercise and now they are loving it and they are addicted to it."

But this program has also helped people become more comfortable doing things that some of us take for granted.

"To feel more comfortable as if they were to have a fall in their house they would be confident they could get back up, feel comfortable{}walking their dogs around the block now,{}they don't get out of breath," said Victoria Nagel , Move It Coordinator. "Just simple things like that. I's very important."The ultimate goal is to get those involved in better health so they can enjoy life more.

Participants are assessed every 3 months to see how they are doing and if they are ready to move on.

The next step is the self-referred part of the program which has a wide variety of classes that anyone can sign up for at a reasonable price.

For more on the Move It! Program, click here.

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