Wellfie Wednesday Tip #68: Walk with a Doc
/Happy #WellfieWednesday friends!
This week is brought to you by Eric (@Eric_in_AmERICa). I wanted to highlight a great resource, www.WalkWithADoc.org. Walk With A Doc uses a simple, yet powerful concept to empower and educate patients to improve their health. Via their website: “Walk with a Doc was started in 2005 by Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio. Frustrated with his inability to affect behavior change in the clinical setting, Dr. Sabgir invited his patients to go for a walk with him in a local park on a spring Saturday morning. To his surprise, over 100 people showed up, energized and ready to move.”
How does it work? A provider sets up a date, time, and location to meet, gives a brief presentation, then goes for a walk with participants who are interested. The concept is beautiful in its simplicity. By eliminating the cultural barrier between patient/client/customer and healthcare provider, you create an open line of communication where people can finally ask those nagging medical questions that they’ve been avoiding (or asking Dr Google) for so long. Furthermore, it allows individuals an opportunity for simple health screenings, such as blood pressure checks, which may increase the likelihood of catching and preventing more serious health issues down the road.
Since its inception, Walk With A Doc has grown to over 300 chapters across the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia so it’s likely that there’s an event you can join in a city nearby. If not, have no fear, WWAD makes it incredibly easy to start an event in your town by offering marketing materials, a “how-to” guide, and even a few t-shirts to promote your event!
So give it a shot and let us know how it goes! 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