Founder of ExWell Medical with centre in Tullamore nominated for UN award

Dr Noel McCaffrey the founder of ExWell Medical which operates a centre in Tullamore has been named among the United Nations 2022 Healthy Ageing 50. The award recognises a group of 50 individuals from around the world who are outstanding leaders with extraordinary achievements in the area of healthy ageing.

Ex-Well Medical is a not for profit social enterprise which was formed in 2019. It offers its community-based clinical exercise service to people with all forms of chronic illness.

The programmes are reported to have a transformative impact on quality of life, restoring mobility, fitness, hope and enjoyment and building resilience.

The programme runs in Tullamore, Athlone and Portlaoise and is funded by The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2021-2030 the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing This year, as the Second World Assembly on Ageing approaches its 20-year milestone, the UN’s Healthy Ageing 50 initiative honours 50 leaders from across the globe who are already working to transform the world to be a better place in which to grow older.

The mission of ExWell Medical is to transform the lives of people and families living with the burden of chronic illness by bringing its medically-led, community-based clinical exercise service to everyone in Ireland (and beyond) who would benefit from it. ExWell offers medically-led exercise programmes (with face to face and online options).

The rationale is that a large part of the disability, unwellness and social exclusion / loneliness that occurs with chronic illness is directly caused by deconditioning (lack of fitness) brought on by lack of physical activity. This can be substantially fixed through group exercise. The ExWell programme restores mobility, fitness, hope and enjoyment and builds resilience with life-enhancing impact.

Chronic illness affects 40% of Ireland’s population and 85% of those aged over 65 years. It consumes 85% of Ireland’s entire health spend and is a growing problem with an ageing population. Exercise is a simple, inexpensive and impactful part of the solution.

There has been great interest and uptake in the programme. Referrals have come in large numbers from Tullamore and Portlaoise Hospitals and from local GPs. The attendance across 3 sites now exceeds 250 weekly visits. In Tullamore classes take place at St Mary's Community and Youth Centre on Monday and Wednesday afternoons 1pm and 2pm, with lead Lisa Kelly.

Dr McCaffrey is delighted with the award and said; ''This is a very big honour. It is a major validation of the work we do and a huge confidence boost for me, for the entire ExWell team, for our delivery partners across the midlands and for our participants who are always delighted when ExWell’s work gets acknowledged. We have had a roller coaster journey since 2019, including the chaos of the pandemic, and there are so many people to thank for helping us along the way. I am particularly delighted to acknowledge the great support ExWell has received from the HSE and we are hopeful that the funded models we are developing with the HSE in Tallaght and the midlands can be brought elsewhere in the near future.''