We're so excited to talk health and wellness this week! You may be surprised by how we describe and treat health and wellness, but spoiler, we go beyond what you may be picturing. We're here to dive deeper into why this topic is so important to your daily life and long-term health.
You may have gotten the gist by now, but we love showing you a comprehensive view of physical therapy and how physical therapists treat beyond exercise therapy. The clinical team at Aware Health guides patients to meet goals that ring true for them. Their goals are not always along the lines of "complete 10 squats without knee pain" or "run a 5k without back pain." Maybe you don't have pain, but you do have a goal to walk more during the work day, or develop a stretching and mobility program, or maybe even to improve sleep quality.
The health and wellness related goals above can play a large role in preventing injuries, and even contribute to decreasing risk of disease. As a bonus, you'll likely have increased energy and focus to dedicate to your family, career, and life goals! It starts with health and wellness.
Physical Therapists are in an ideal position to promote health and wellness, especially on the Aware Health platform!
Why is Health & Wellness Important?
This may be more in-depth than you'd initially think. Noncommunicable diseases, also called lifestyle or chronic diseases, are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and across the globe (Bezner, 2015). These include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and lung disease, just to name a few. An American Heart Association report in 2019 stated the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in adults 20+ years old was 48% overall, accounting for over 120 million Americans. Chronic disease comes with financial, mental, and physical burdens in addition to the nagging symptoms. Even if you don't have pain, prioritizing your health and wellness is crucial to promote longevity and decrease your risk of disease.
The good news is that many of the behaviors associated with these lifestyle diseases are modifiable. Physical inactivity, smoking, an unhealthy diet, poor sleep, and stress are the main lifestyle behaviors associated with noncommunicable diseases AND chronic musculoskeletal disorders (Alodaibi et al., 2022). Chronic back pain, for example, is similar in that it is a significant reason for seeking care, yet evidence shows that back pain is largely related to lifestyle behaviors and risk factors. Hopefully, this shows a bit of foreshadowing of how physical therapy can positively impact your health and wellness!
What is Health & Wellness?
These terms both have multidimensional definitions. A commonly referenced definition by the WHO describes health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease," while wellness is defined as "the sense that one is living in a manner that permits the experience of consistent, balanced growth in the physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social, and psychological dimensions of human experience" (Bezner, 2015). Per these definitions, an individual can have a disease and be well at the same time, reiterating that wellness is not solely the absence of disease. Rather, health and wellness should be viewed through a broad lens. In physical therapy, this relates to our biopsychosocial approach to treatment, which we explain in our various discussions around pain and pain management.
Why PT for Health & Wellness?
Physical therapists are movement and wellness experts. Physical therapists often spend more time with patients regularly, versus intermittent visits to a primary care doctor. During this time, the physical therapist can take a thorough subjective history to learn about their patients' lifestyles, activity levels, and risk factors. Addressing modifiable risk factors as described above (i.e. lifestyle habits that we have the control to modify) such as sleep, diet, and activity is one of the best ways to improve health and wellness. Your physical therapist can ultimately help prevent (and treat) noncommunicable diseases by prescribing the correct dosing and type of physical activity and exercise. In addition, patients receive invaluable education surrounding their risk factors and learn about optimal activity specific to them and their goals.
Beyond learning about risk factors, here are a few other ways completing a physical therapy program can improve your health and wellness:
- Improving health literacy
- Exploring perceived barriers to physical activity
- Goal setting and monitoring outcomes
- Building social support
- Education surrounding recommended activity levels
- Screening smoking habits and addressing smoking cessation
- Sleep strategies
- Stress management
Let's talk more about barriers to physical activity. These often include:
- Lack of time
- Lack of resources
- Lack of self-efficacy
- Reactive versus proactive approach
- Lack of involvement of healthcare providers, including physical therapists, taking action in promoting health and wellness
- Lack of knowledge surrounding this topic that may have stemmed from family habits.
How Can Aware Help?
In doing our part to improve advocacy and promote health and wellness, let's take a look at how the Aware Health platform breaks through these barriers:
- Effective 25-minute virtual evaluation and follow-ups with a Doctor of Physical Therapy
- Direct access care, at no cost to the patient
- Set personal goals during the first visit with your provider
- Outcome monitoring and check-ins to promote engagement
- Programs that fit into your lifestyle - while we may encourage some lifestyle modifications, we ensure your program is both motivating and realistic. Most of our prescribed exercises do not require any equipment, and can be done from your office, home, or even outside!
- Extensive patient education
- Videos and resources to support patient education
Want to get started on a health and wellness program? The Doctors of Physical Therapy at Aware Health can evaluate you and offer valuable insight and treatment to establish a wellness program based on your goals.