Fifty percent of the US population has at least one chronic medical condition. According to the Centers for Disease Control, chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and arthritis are among the most common and costly health problems facing Americans and the healthcare system today. Because 80 percent of disease, illness, and injury is due to poor decisions and lifestyle behaviors, most of these chronic conditions are preventable.
The top two health risk behaviors leading to illness, suffering, and early death related to chronic disease are lack of exercise and poor nutrition. In 2011, more than 50 percent of US adults did not meet the recommendations for aerobic physical activity and 76 percent did not meet recommendations for strengthening physical activity.
Physical activity is the solution to preventing or treating many of our most common chronic diseases. The Exercise is Medicine (EIM) initiative was launched in 2007 by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Medical Association (AMA) to encourage primary care physicians to include exercise when designing treatment plans for patients.
Encouragement from a patient’s trusted physician is often the greatest influence on a patient’s decision to make a lifestyle change. According to the CDC, overweight patients are nearly five times more likely to exercise if their doctors counseled them to do so. Some suggestions for introducing exercise into the physician/patient conversation:
Actively listen to the patient. A patient who feels their physician is attentive to their concerns will be more receptive to their suggestions.
Capitalize on teachable moments. When a patient has had a potentially life- changing event, he or she may be motivated to make a behavior change.
Assess the patient’s knowledge level. Many people think that it is too late in life or they are too far gone to make changes. A lack of knowledge may have contributed to past failures.
Determine what is important to the patient. Some patients may not be motivated to change for themselves, but they may be motivated to remain independent so as not to burden others or so they can play with their grandchildren.
Help the patient understand that it is not necessary, nor realistic, to completely overhaul all of their poor habits at once. Changing one unhealthy habit at a time is the key.
As demands on providers’ time increase, even with their best efforts, they will have even less time available to effectively counsel their patients on exercise.
LIFT Wellness Center, located downtown in the Jackson Walk development, has a mission to improve the health of the community by promoting healthier lifestyles through education, physical activity, and nutrition. The Exercise is Medicine medical fitness programs at LIFT allow physicians and other healthcare providers a simple and easy way to prescribe exercise as a way to address and manage chronic disease and risk factors such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, sleep apnea, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The Exercise is Medicine medical fitness programs offer an affordable option for patients to work with degreed and certified exercise specialists to ensure their program is safe, effective, medically appropriate and goal-oriented. They also have access to registered dietitians, physical therapists, healthy cooking classes, health education, and group exercise on land or in water.
Patients who are referred to the Exercise is Medicine program do not have to be members of the LIFT Wellness Center. The physician simply fills out a referral form available by calling 427-7048 and faxes the form to the Exercise is Medicine Program Coordinator at 731-425-6878. The EIM coordinator will contact the patient to set up their first appointment.
For information about the Exercise is Medicine programs at Lift Wellness Center, email Miki Martin, PT, MBA, COMT, Lift Wellness Center Director at miki.martin@wth.org or Hilary Keen, MS, HFS, Exercise is Medicine Program Coordinator at hilary.keen@wth.org.
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