Jul 14, 2010
Teryl Worster | Fitness Director, The Spa on Green Street
In a world where obesity and preventable diseases are at record highs, I frequently ask myself how can I, as a fitness professional, help to make a difference?
One step I envision is to create a network of health professionals who work together from their various specialties to improve the health and fitness of the client. I find that working hand-in-hand with my client’s primary care physician and any other specialists to create a wellness plan that includes exercise accountability in coordination with proper medical care and nutritional counseling absolutely invaluable. I believe that with more effective communication we can help patients to create new and lasting lifestyle modifications that will result in long term health and longevity.
As the Fitness Director at The Spa on Green Street, I have enjoyed a wonderful and synergistic relationship with our Wellness program coordinator, Ricardo Boye, ND. We work closely together to provide consistent up-to-date health and fitness advice and services to our guests. This has proven to be extremely valuable as we are seeing a higher level of compliance and with that, RESULTS! This creates excitement and ongoing motivation for our guests.
Exercise and nutrition are the first line of defense in the fight against lifestyle related diseases. We as health care professionals have a responsibility to do more in response to this rising epidemic. It takes more today to create change and the days of simply suggesting that your patients “exercise more” are over.
I would highly recommend that you take the time as health care providers to form strategic relationships with local fitness professionals. Interview and research the credentials of any fitness professional that you may be interested in. They should have a nationally recognized certification. It is extremely important that you are both in agreement on strategy relative to the exercise AND nutritional needs of each patient. This adds to the credibility of both professionals and saves the patient from having to decide for themselves which plan to follow. If you have available space in your facility, consider creating a small functional training area and lease this out or hire a fitness professional to work for you. This is a wonderful way to utilize excess space. Here are some of the many benefits of creating a relationship between healthcare practitioners and fitness professionals:
- Provides easy access to exercise for patients
- Allows the health care practitioner to ensure proper training and follow up
- New profit center for business if on site
- Increased referral business
- Higher levels of patient compliance and accountability
- Success for patients due to well structured support system
Please feel free to tell us of your successes in this area or contact us for further help or questions regarding the process of adding exercise modalities to your practice. Have fun in the process!
Great ideas Teryl – thanks for the blog post – it makes it so easy for patients to get started with an exercise program when their Practitioner offers on site exercise solutions…..and it provides a revenue stream that is often lucrative and overlooked.