Move It or Lose It: Summarizing Peer-reviewed Evidence for Practicing What You Preach

Current Sports Medicine Reports · 2020 · 1 citations

• Medicine
• Family medicine
• Nursing

Physically active health care providers are more likely to provide physical activity (PA) counseling to their patients, but barriers in PA counseling exist. Common barriers include knowledge, time constraints, lack of reimbursement, as well as lack of personal habits. This article will summarize evidence-based knowledge regarding provider PA habits as a means of improving rapport, compliance, and empathy for patients when prescribing PA. Clinical pearls for successful PA counseling scenarios also will be discussed.

Identifying Key Physical Activity Categories and Topics to Include in Health Professional Training Programs

Teaching and Learning in Medicine · 2020 · 10 citations

• Computer Science
• Medical education
• Psychology

These findings highlight several key PA categories and topics that can serve as a foundation for a diverse number of health professional training programs.

Caring for and Counseling the Peripartum Runner

Elsevier eBooks · 2019-12-06 · 1 citations

List of Contributors

Elsevier eBooks · 2019-12-06

Hiring Practices of Exercise Physiologist in Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs among Mid-Atlantic States in the United States

Journal of Clinical Exercise Physiology · 2016-09-01 · 3 citations

Purpose : The purpose of this survey was to identify factors that may be influencing the appreciation of exercise physiology as a discipline as demonstrated by hiring practices in regional clinical settings. Methods : A telephone survey was administered to 33 cardiac rehabilitation programs in 5 states in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia). Results : The distribution of nurses and exercise physiologists (EPs) employed by the 33 facilities varied by state, but overall there were 86 nurses and 55 EPs working among the surveyed facilities. Of the 33 surveyed facilities, 12 (36%) reported a preference for hiring nurses over EPs; only 4 (12%) reported a preference for hiring EPs over nurses. The remaining facilities (n = 17; 52%) reported no preference (n = 12; 36%) or that the decision depends on a variety of factors (n = 5; 15%). Several common themes were identified from respondents. These included that, compared to nurses, EPs have greater expertise in exercise prescription and better understanding of safe exercise progression for patients. However, nurses were believed to possess g reater assessment and clinical skill with an emphasis on emergency response preparedness and greater general patient education skills. Conclusion : Academic programs that prepare students for careers as EPs employed in clinical settings may benefit from additional coursework and internship site selection that focus on clinical assessment skills, emergency preparedness, and patient education to reinforce their work in an exercise science curriculum.

Appreciation for the Role and Hiring Trends of Exercise Physiologists in Regional Cardiac Rehabilitation Facilities

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2016-05-01

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine what factors may influence the appreciation of exercise physiology as a discipline as demonstrated by hiring practices of regional clinical settings. METHODS: A mixed-methods telephone survey was administered to 33 cardiac rehabilitation facilities in five states in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia). RESULTS: The distribution of RNs and EPs employed by the 33 facilities varied by state, but overall there were 84 RNs and 58 EPs working among the surveyed facilities. Of the 33 surveyed facilities, 36% reported preference in hiring RNs over EPs while only 12% reported preference of hiring EPs over RNs. Over half (51%) of facilities reported a preference toward hiring both (36%) or, in some circumstances, clarifying that the decision would depend on a variety of factors (15%). In response to the qualitative questions (Q3, Q4, Q5), common themes among responses emerged. Themes from response to Q3 demonstrated hiring managers felt EPs have greater expertise in exercise prescription (61%) followed by better understanding of safe exercise progression for patients (12%). The majority of responses to Q4 reflected the belief that RNs possess greater assessment and clinical skill with an emphasis on emergency response preparedness (64%) followed by greater general patient education skills (24%) were considered another strength of RNs in cardiac rehab facilities. Only 28 of the 33 facilities elected to respond whether or not they were looking to hire EPs in the near future. Most (64%) of the responding facilities said ‘yes’ or ‘yes- provided the budget will support it’ while only 25% reported no plans to hire EPs or, due to budget constraints, could or would not be able to do so. CONCLUSION: The hiring landscape does appear to be changing and trending toward that of an interdisciplinary team in cardiac rehab facilities. Undergraduate exercise science students interested in careers as clinical exercise physiologists and employment in clinical settings may benefit from additional coursework in patient care and assessment as well as advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training to reinforce their work in an exercise science curriculum

Effects of a Combined Strength and AerobicTraining Program on Fatigue, Muscular Strength, and Muscular Endurance in a Stage III Colorectal Cancer Patient

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2015-05-01

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of a combined aerobic and strength training program on fatigue and muscular strength and endurance in a Stage III colorectal cancer patient. METHODS: The patient completed an independent aerobic training program for one month prior to starting cancer treatments. The patient then completed a one-month supervised strength training program while continuing the independent aerobic training program. Fatigue was measured using the Piper Fatigue Scale and assessed before and after the one-month combined program. Muscular strength and endurance (3RM leg press, 1RM bench press, curl-up test, sit-to-stand functional assessment) as well as aerobic capacity (12-minute walk test) were measured at baseline and at the conclusion of the one-month combined program. RESULTS: All measures of muscular strength and endurance as well as aerobic and functional capacity improved: 3RM leg press (58%), 1RM bench press (61%), curl-up test (42%), sit-to-stand (60%), 12-minute walk test (14%). Of the 23 items measured on the Piper Fatigue Scale, 17 items improved at least 50%. Ten of the fatigue items improved at least 100%. In addition, at a three-month follow-up evaluation, the patient’s cancer count dropped from 121 (pre-program measurement) to 2.0. He had also independently continued the exercise program designed for this study, and at the three-month assessment, had lost a total of 42 pounds. CONCLUSION: Aerobic and resistance training programs may improve feelings of fatigue and maintain or improve physical fitness in patients undergoing treatment for colorectal cancer.

Healing by Example: The Influences of Medical Residents' Attitudes and Health Behaviors on their Communication Skills and Counseling Practices

VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) · 2012-02-15

The opportunity to educate obese patients on healthy lifestyle practices and address habits related to chronic disease development is present among many physician office visits, though this opportunity is often overlooked (Flocke, Stange, & Goodwin, 1998). Understanding ways to improve the medical education and enhance the counseling skills of future physicians are of practical and personal relevance to current research. By improving the ways in which physicians counsel obese patients on weight management practices, the healthcare paradigm is poised to create an indelible mark on the wellbeing of our nation. Based on the need to address patient education and counseling, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between physician attitudes and health behaviors on their overall communication and communication skills. The study surveyed 38 second-year medical residents at the New York University Bellevue School of Medicine using the Weight Management Survey developed by NYU researchers. Communication and counseling skills were measured using scores from Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs) administered on the same day as the Weight Management Counseling survey. Results of the survey and the OSCEs were analyzed to investigate relationships between each survey item of three categories of questions (attitudes toward weight management counseling, attitudes toward obese patients, physician health habits) and each of two sets of OSCE scores (obesity-related communication skills and overall counseling skills). Results of the data analysis suggest significant relationships between physicians' personal health habits–specifically dietary habits–and obesity counseling–related communication skills. Results also suggest a significant relationship between physicians' attitudes toward obesity counseling-related communication skills and overall communication skills. Although an extensive body of evidence corroborates these relationships, future investigations should administer the surveys and methods used in this study in rural as well as other urban locations in order to improve variability among medical residents surveyed and assessed. These results also highlight the need to investigate more information about the learning environment of medical residents and also the working environment of physicians, in a variety of settings, in order to provide more depth to the body of literature suggesting providers' health habits improves patient health outcomes.