Back in 2016, David Bryfman from The Jewish Education Project came to Pittsburgh and told us very directly that if we were still programming for teens the way we were five years ago that we would soon lose our audience. We took David’s advice to heart and with the generous support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, we have completely reinvented our approach to Jewish teen engagement, so much so that we now have over 330 members in our Second Floor space located in Squirrel Hill!

As is often the case, a lesson learned in one area of the JCC is applicable in others. David’s urging was for us to not only need to change but for us to want to change. One part of the JCC where this learning laboratory mentality has really taken off is in health & wellness, where many of the innovations put in place advance our mission and fulfill the WHY of the JCC – improving the quality of life for individuals and community.

Our new gait training and fall prevention program, GaitBetter, provides members with real-time data regarding their gait, motor-planning, balance strategies, dual tasking, decision making and cognitive awareness while they are walking on a treadmill and viewing their actual steps on a virtual-reality screen with real-life situations, such as walking in a park or through the city.

The GaitBetter program was a logical extension of a major initiative at our South Hills JCC, where with funding from the Jack Buncher Foundation, we have piloted a full-fledged senior center operation. In just over 12 months, we have significantly enhanced our health and wellness programming for older adults and registered 840 participants who enjoy low-cost kosher lunches and a wide variety of services, classes and socialization activities.

Our Recovery Room in Squirrel Hill, a dedicated space to aid in active and passive recovery pre- and post-workout, provides a wide variety of classes and equipment that are informed by research showing that recovery is just as important as exercise, affecting the inflammation, soreness and lactic acid build-up in your body, as well as risk of injury.

Driving many of our innovations in health and wellness is the knowledge that people like to see outcomes, and providing tracking and results keeps them engaged.

For example, the GaitBetter system, along with the real-time information provided on the screen during the session, tracks each user’s data over time so that they can see their improvement.  Further, the data allows us to see where they have challenges, and then personalize the program to address those challenges. If, for example, a member has more difficulty stepping over an obstacle with one leg than the other, we can program the system to make the challenges different for each side of the body.

Members can benefit from the use of our Styku 3D scanner, which assesses body composition to provide a baseline and then map each user’s progress over time. We have also just rolled out a new video analysis application, Yogger, which is designed for personal trainers to help their clients improve performance through AI-powered movement screenings and related scoring.

Our DEKA program in the South Hills supports everyday life through the basic movements of lifting, pushing, pulling, jumping, climbing and getting down on the ground and standing back up. Rooted in the principles of functional fitness, the highest ranked training modality in the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2024 Worldwide Fitness Trends, DEKA’s unique approach in gamifying fitness through competitions and challenges emphasizes training with purpose and fosters community both within and across fitness centers all over the region.

We also know that 80% of all health outcomes are determined by patient behaviors and activities outside of a physician’s office. As such, we are in the process of forming more explicit relationships with healthcare providers across a number of specialty areas so that they can refer their patients to the JCC’s medical fitness professionals in support of individual wellness goals, including weight loss and improved strength, balance, range of motion or muscular endurance.

At the JCC, we embrace innovation as the great enabler in redefining what is possible. Specific to health and wellness, innovation will allow the JCC and our members to remain on the cutting edge of athletic performance, motivation and engagement, accessibility, improved health outcomes and injury prevention. We can’t wait to see what is next and we remain open to and curious about pushing the boundaries in all that we do at the JCC.

Wishing you and your families a Shabbat shalom,
Jason