Wellfie Wednesday Tip #87: Get Out of Your Circle

Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back! This week is brought to you by Patrick, (@TheFuelPhysio) and warning, it seem like bit of a rant.

     In the world (circle) of physical therapy, this past week was a big deal, we had our Combined Sections Meeting in New Orleans, LA, where over 17,000 PTs, PTA, and students poured into the city. With over 340 educational sessions and hundreds of expo venders spread over 3 facilities, there was certainly a lot going on downtown. But this was the problem that I and two other clinicians came to realize. Everyone was where they were “suppose to be.” Gathered around other clinicians, in their circle, learning and inspiring how to make change on the outside, but in a way just “talking” about making change on the outside.

     What Jerry Durham, F Scott Fiel, and I came to realize is that we need to get outside of circle. And it wasn’t a hypothetical thought. We actually left the conference. We uber’d to a local chili cook off that we had learned about through other local involvements and dove into that community’s circle. We ate their chili, we danced to their live music, and we supported their fundraising efforts. And man were our eyes opened. This is how conferences should be done!

     Our professions invade cities and communities, and yes we help their tourism and hospitality industries, but what about those underserved populations? The children? The homeless? This is where we need to go, especially those of us within the healthcare field. Quit talking about being on the outside and get out there!

     And this concept of getting outside of your circle is much larger than a conference; it can be applicable to our own daily lives. Think of yourself or your immediate circle of family and friends. Do you explore outside of your circle? Are you experiencing life beyond what you know to exist?

     Next year's conference will certainly be different; and the wheels are already turning to make that happen. But make the change in your own circle too. See what else is out there. Learn and grow from others you wouldn’t normally interact with.

     Thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @DianaKlatt, @kuhnalyssa_spt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew

Wellfie Wednesday Tip #65: APHPT - A Fundamentally Different Way to Care

Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back! This week we want to highlight a quickly growing group of "Doers," that no longer want to just talk about our country's problem, but take action!

I want to welcome Ali Hartman (@alihartmanSPT), who's leading the membership team with Alexis Morgan (@AlexisMorganPT) over at APHPT, as this week's guest promoter of health.

WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

     The American people are sick and hurting, and the American healthcare system has failed them. Half of all Americans in the US are suffering from one or more chronic conditions, which include conditions such as cardiovascular  disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal disease (arthritis, back/neck pain, etc), stroke, cancer, obesity, and more. These chronic conditions are responsible for 7 of the top 10 deaths in our country, and account for 86% of our almost $3 trillion dollar annual healthcare spend (healthcare accounting for over 17% of total GDP & growing). Despite the massive spend, people continue to get sicker and sicker and costs continue to climb with no real end in sight. The worst part- many of these chronic conditions share common root causes that are largely preventable and amenable if we are willing to widen our lense to see the bigger picture. Unfortunately, the future appears grim without a major disruption in our current system and mindset regarding healthcare. Enter the Academy of Prevention and Health Promotion Therapies. The APHPT is a collaborative of health-facing professionals who are deeply committed to bringing a fundamentally different way to care to the people of our society. APHPT is not a program, product, or system. Rather, it is an ecosystem of action-oriented professionals who believe that we, as a whole, are capable of SO much more, and that the people of our society deserve it. (Link to stats reference)

     We believe that to understand where we are going, we must first understand who we are. This is why APHPT established our four core values- EQUITY, ACTION, AUTHENTIC CONNECTION, and SUSTAINABILITY. With these values as our foundation, we have started to build an infrastructure that allows health-facing professionals to come together and collaborate, learn, grow, and connect with one another to produce actionable steps towards better health for our nation and beyond. As ideas, interests, passions, and talents emerge in our membership, we facilitate the creation of member-led “idea labs”, building a team that can accelerate that idea into action. We share both our successes and our failures so that we can learn and grow together. We cultivate experiences and environments that stimulate knowledge transfer to allow members to begin implementing this mindset into ANY situation or setting immediately. Finally, we believe that to truly make a difference, we need every single person who has the heart and desire to move the needle forward on our population’s health to join us in fighting the good fight. No matter who you are, your profession, your setting, or your experience, we would be humbled and honored to have you as a part of our tribe. Our nation’s health depends on it.

     If you are interested in finding out more about APHPT, what we are up to, our membership options, or other resources, check out the website at APHPT.org. You can also check out our social media channels (instagram, twitter, facebook), what our membership package entails here, or join us TONIGHT 9/27 at 9pm EST for our monthly live Twitter chat (details here) by following the hashtag #PopHLTHchat. Also, feel free to contact our membership team- Ali Hartman at alison.hartman@aphpt.org or Alexis Morgan at alexis.morgan@aphpt.org with any questions about APHPT membership!

Thanks for reading and looking forward to CONNECTing! - Ali Hartman

     And thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@PBernerSPT, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew