Over the summer, however, he and other older adults had the chance to experience something a little different: Bingocize®. Aptly named for its combination of exercise and a game of bingo, it is a tested program that has proven to improve physical activity and reduce risk of falling in older adults. The sessions ran from July 29 to Sept. 4.

“I love it. I lost some weight,” Castro said.

Each Bingocize session includes tutorials on exercises with full range of motion, falls prevention education, and nutrition education. The Yona/Talo’fo’fo’ cohort ran for six weeks, with two sessions occurring each week. From doing full-arm rotations to checking if the lottery ball had their number on it, the sessions had participants steady on their feet. For Castro, it was a great way to get healthy with friends.

“We’re like family here,” he said. “[We] should keep stuff like this up every other day, even if it’s just a 10-minute workout in the morning,” he said.

We all know that exercise is good for us and it is important to be healthy, but it’s really about having the opportunity and access to participate in those activities. –Tim de La Cruz

Bingocize is an established program approved by the Active Community Living/Administration on Aging Evidence-Based Programs Review Committee and has been implemented across the nation. The program arrived locally through a partnership with the Guam Department of Public Health & Social Services Division of Senior Citizens and the University of Guam Land Grant Extension Service. The two institutions had been collaborating to provide new healthy activities to older adults since the early 2000s, and Bingocize was another endeavor that came down the pipeline, according to Tim de La Cruz, a UOG Land Grant extension agent and assistant professor of family and consumer sciences. He also facilitated the program at the senior center.

“Extension’s commitment is to ensure that UOG’s research and expertise are accessible to the community, and that includes addressing concerns with senior citizens,” de La Cruz said. “We all know that exercise is good for us and it is important to be healthy, but it’s really about having the opportunity and access to participate in those activities.”

Working with the Mayors Council of Guam provides consistent access to the local senior citizens, which provide the target audience for Bingocize activities. De La Cruz said that Bingocize supplements services that already exists within those centers, while also creating and fostering a social network among their age group. Bingo is already present in most senior centers, so getting older adults into Bingocize was like connecting two jigsaw pieces together.

In addition to the southern locale, the program has also been implemented in the Agana Heights and Sånta Rita-Sumai senior centers, as well as the Guma’ Ginefli’e Dementia Day Care in Yigo. DPHSS and UOG are looking at continuing the program in the upcoming fiscal year with eight more cycles.

Rosita Vasapolli, vice president of the Yona/Talo’fo’fo’ Senior Center, said she can’t wait for the program to start up again. Of the few sessions she was able to attend, she had won the Bingo component of it twice.

“We’re very pleased with the exercise we’ve been getting with the program. I was so surprised. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I hope they will come back here again, but I know the other centers will enjoy this,” Vasapolli said.