Meet & Move: Boosting Physical Health and Wellbeing for Over 65s

Meet and Move began as a pilot project with just five members in one weekly group.

Four years later, 240 patients have come through the programme. Seventy long-term members come to regular classes in four locations. There are even have a few members competing to reach 100 sessions first!

Meet & Move takes a positive approach to older people’s health. It boosts physical resilience and promotes wellbeing.

This case study explains how and why it came about.

PCNs and Preventative Health

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) were introduced to the NHS in 2019.

They allow nearby GP practices to work together and offer new services to meet patients’ needs.

The main goals were to provide personalised and preventive care, address health inequalities, and improve standards. Each network has the flexibility to create services that best serve their patients.

Meet and Move is about preventative health. It doesn’t treat unwell people. Instead, it helps to improve their physical and mental wellbeing so they can live longer, healthier lives.

Frailty and Isolation

When PCNs were launched, about 1 in 5 people in the UK were over 60—more than 12 million. Around 1.8 million of them were thought to be living with frailty.

Frailty means the body loses strength and resilience, making it easier to get sick and more challenging to recover. It can limit activity, leading to falls, social isolation, and worsening health, increasing reliance on care services.

Though often linked to ageing, frailty isn’t inevitable. With proper support, its effects can be slowed or even reversed.

Developing Meet & Move

Meet & Move was started by Rachel Cowey, a physiotherapist working with GP practices in Jesmond and Gosforth.

Her goal was to create a safe exercise class for older adults who might be frail.

Participants slowly build strength, balance, and fitness with guided activities. This helps them move better, lowers the risk of falls, and supports overall health.

The social side of the class is also important – it helps people make friends, feel more confident, and enjoy being active together.

Meet & Move classes are being run by James Kent, a specialist Health and Wellbeing Coach, while Rachel is on maternity leave. When Rachel returns in 2025, the classes will once again open for new members.

Who is it for?

The classes are for people aged 65 and older who may have had falls, have balance issues, or can’t do much physical activity.

Many first participants already worked with our Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLWs).

The SPLWs help Rachel and James run the classes and talk to people about their goals.

There are some exclusions to keep everyone safe. For example, those with uncontrolled heart or lung disease, memory issues, or severe mental health problems.

How it works

Each session starts with 45 minutes of exercises led by Rachel or James. They focus on improving balance, strength, endurance, flexibility, and coordination.

There’s also an educational part that covers exercise, nutrition, hydration, and mindfulness.

After the workout, participants enjoy tea and coffee together. This is a time to chat, make new friends, and for Social Prescribers to check in and discuss progress.

A standard course is 10 free sessions for patients registered with GP practices in Gosforth and Jesmond. It gives people a physical and emotional boost to keep themselves well.

Of course, many people enjoy the sessions so much that they stay on as community members, paying a small weekly fee of £5.

Meet & Move has around 70 long-term members, some of whom are veterans of nearly 100 sessions!

How it helps

The team have a couple of widely used tests to measure people’s progress.

One is the ‘timed up and go’ score, which looks at someone’s mobility and balance. Patients are timed to see how long it takes them to stand up from a chair, walk 3 metres, turn around, and return to their seats.

Repeating the test regularly gives the team an indicator of progress.

Across a 10-session course, the average score improves by 12%.

The second test is the’ 30-second chair stand.’ It measures how many times someone can go from fully sitting in a chair to standing upright and back again in half a minute.

The average increase for patients who complete the 10-session course is 42%. These positive outcomes, plus the group’s growth and the number of long-term members, show the benefit to overall physical and emotional wellbeing.

What people say

Here’s just a selection of the feedback we’ve received from Meet & Move participants

“I lost my wife in November, and this is something entirely different from my wife, I look forward to it. If I’m feeling a bit low, as soon as I get here, my mood lifts and I find that the exercises and meeting new people is very good for me.”

“This class is the highpoint of my week. I love it! I love that someone cares. Thank you!”

“This is such a rewarding hour: exercise, good positive encouragement. Happy, social coffee with convivial conversation with members of the group.”

What’s next?

Meet & Move has grown quickly, proving how effective and fun the sessions are.

Rachel and the team have more plans, with a target of 100 regular members and classes in eight locations across Gosforth and Jesmond.

When Rachel returns from maternity leave in 2025, the books for Meet & Move will open again, with new members welcome.