The Cool Down – April 2019 Edition
Welcome to this month’s edition of The Cool Down – Moreton All Body Care’s monthly newsletter with practice information, staff profiles, exercises and even some tasty recipes for you to try.
What is the difference between your Allied Health Professionals? Who do I need to see?
We often find there is confusion amongst patients about who to see when booking an appointment. They are unsure exactly what it is our Allied Health Professionals do and how they are able to assist them with injuries and chronic health conditions.
Below is a brief overview of who Physiotherapists, Podiatrists & Exercise Physiologists are and also what they do in their scope of practice – hopefully this helps to clear up some of the confusion.
Physiotherapists
Physiotherapists are experts in the structure of the human body and its movement. They work with people of all ages to treat a broad range of health conditions including sports injuries and musculoskeletal conditions as well as chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, osteoarthritis and stroke. Physiotherapists are involved in the assessment, diagnosis, planning and management of patient care.
Physiotherapists assess, diagnose, plan and manage the care of patients across a broad range of areas with musculoskeletal, cardiothoracic and neurological problems. They help patients with chronic disease management, provide lifestyle modification and self-management advice, prescribe aids and appliances, prescribe and supervise exercises for both patients and carers, and provide health promotion education, occupational health assessments and injury prevention activities.
Physiotherapists can help treat a range of chronic conditions, often as part of multidisciplinary teams. They are trained to design individual programs of care that help address risk factors arising from co-morbidities and physical limitations in people with chronic conditions.
Podiatrists
A podiatrist is an expert in foot care. Podiatrists help people in the care of their lower limbs including the foot and ankle and may also be involved in supporting older people to reduce their risk of falling.
Podiatrists provide a wide range of services from the treatment of calluses to the treatment of bone and joint disorders. For conditions such as recurring sprains and chronic pain, podiatrists may prescribe foot orthoses.
The podiatrist’s scope of practice includes areas such as paediatrics, diabetes, sports injuries, structural problems, treatment of the elderly as well as general foot care.
Podiatrists with additional qualifications and registration may also perform foot surgery.
Exercise Physiologists
Accredited exercise physiologists specialise in clinical exercise interventions for people with a broad range of health issues. Those people may be at risk of developing, or have existing, medical conditions and injuries. The aims of exercise physiology interventions are to prevent or manage acute, sub- acute or chronic disease or injury, and assist in restoring one’s optimal physical function, health or wellness. These interventions are exercise-based and include health and physical activity education, advice and support and lifestyle modification with a strong focus on achieving behavioural change.
Accredited exercise physiologists offer a range of services which include behavioural coaching, health education, exercise counselling and physical rehabilitation. Services include the prescription of tailored exercise programs, promoting leisure-time and incidental activity, and counselling to reduce sedentary behaviours. This will include an assessment to ensure the activity is safe, effective and likely to be maintained in the long term.
Accredited exercise physiologists do not provide invasive services (except for point of care testing), diagnosis, joint manipulation or pharmaceutical medicines.
So who do I see?
Some conditions may only require the intervention of one Allied Health Professional while others can benefit from a multi-disciplinary approach. At Moreton All Body Care it is always our goal to ensure that you are able to reach & maintain your optimum level of health and wellness.With this in mind, when you ring and make your first appointment with us, the more information you are able to provide us with at the time of booking, the better we are able to book you in with the appropriate professional.
Once you have had your first appointment, your treating practitioner will discuss with you your ongoing treatment plan and if, and when, you would benefit from seeing any of our other Allied Health professionals. Our Allied Health staff work closely together to ensure that your care and treatment is tailored specifically to your needs, and will work with you to achieve your specific goals.
Most importantly if you have any questions about any of our services, or about Allied Health in general, please feel free to ask us.
(Health professional information courtesy of https://ahpa.com.au/)
New Year, New You? Starting Exercise Safely
The New Year always brings with it a raft of resolutions and plans to live healthier and happier lives. Often some of these may revolve around exercising more or being more consistent in exercising. We love seeing people active in the community, and want to help people stay active, so we have compiled our 3 top tips on how to start exercising and avoid injury.
1- Start Slow
Our bodies are use it or lose it machines and because of this, especially if you haven’t exercised for more than 3 months or you have never exercised, it is important that you start slow. This allows the joints, muscles, connective tissue and bones time to get used to the load. Think of it like the “run in” period of a car. If you increase your workload by too much too soon it places you at a significantly higher risk of injury. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that you only increase exercise by 10-20% of what you have been doing over the past 4 weeks. I.E if you have been able to do 10 squats in a row, next week aim for 11-12, or if you have been able to walk for 10 minutes continuously aim to increase that to 11-12. Then gradually increase over time until you hit your goal.
2- Listen to your body
Your body will tell you when you have trained too hard or when you need to recover. This is important because the body gets stronger when it recovers and if you don’t allow your body enough time to recover then it won’t get as strong as possible. Practically, this may look like having an extra rest day when you are feeling fatigued or perhaps substituting an easy exercise session instead of a hard one if you don’t think you can cope with the hard session. As well as this, using foam rollers, self massage balls or stretching can help to keep your body in tip-top shape when you feel like you have tight muscles or stiffness.
3- Seek help early
Most issues are best managed in the early stages to reduce time off and make sure there are fewer barriers in your way to being healthy. Better than that is preventative medicine. This may involve making a plan with your doctor, personal trainer or exercise physiologist to make sure you avoid injury, or talking to a Physiotherapist about previous injuries or current injuries and modifications that need to be made. The most important aspect is that if you are unsure seek the opinion of qualified health professional to get an experts guidance on the best way forwards.
Exercise for Brain Health
We all know that exercise is good for us, but did you know how good it is as we age, especially for our brain health?
Research has shown that exercise can improve cognitive function in people who are concerned about their memory or have slight memory decline and can reduce the risk of further decline. here been a specific guideline designed by the University of Melbourne and supported by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre (DCRC), that outlines the amount of exercise for older adults to incorporate into their daily lives.
With no specific medications currently available to protect the brain from decline, physical activity is an important aspect of maintaining brain health, along with other lifestyle factors like having a healthy diet, staying mentally active and maintaining an active social life.
The guidelines:
If you are considering starting physical activity, it is important to remember to slowly build up over time and always consult your GP to ensure you have no pre-existing health conditions that would hinder you from exercising.
The guidelines are designed with brain health in mind, but can also help with other health benefits, including overall wellbeing, improved mental health, better physical health and better management of other health conditions.
• Aim to do at least 150 minutes per week of moderate or 90 minutes of vigorous aerobic physical activity. This should be combined with trying to be physically active during daily tasks. Moderate is defined as a level of intensity at which one starts to sweat and needs to breathe a bit harder (like fast walking, swimming or bike riding). Vigorous is more intense and involves feeling out of breath (activities could include running, very fast swimming or aerobic exercise in the gym)
• Perform additional resistance training (also known as strength training) at least twice a week. This should also be combined with daily tasks that help improve muscle strength
• Undertake activities that help improve or maintain balance and reduce the risk of falls, such as walking heel-to-toe or rocking onto heels and toes (ensuring safety by doing exercises near a table or a chair)
• Talk to a general practitioner (or physiotherapist or exercise physiologist) before changing your physical activity routine to ensure that your plan is safe and takes your medical history into account.
These guidelines have been designed in particular for older Australians who are worried about their memory and other aspects of their thinking as they age. This concern is common and often described as subjective cognitive decline (SCD). When assessed medically, for example in a memory clinic, many people with SCD have normal cognition for their age, but some experience objective changes.
This often leads to a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The changes noticed are not severe enough to cause significant problems with daily tasks and are not the same as dementia. However, both SCD and MCI are associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive decline or dementia in the future.
If you would like to know more about how we can help you to get started on an exercise program for brain health contact us at Moreton All Body Care on 38869470 or 38886699.
Accessing Allied Health services through Medicare
People with Chronic Medical Conditions and Complex Care needs can access Medicare Rebated Allied Health Services under a Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDM) (previously known as an Enhanced Primary Care Plan (EPC)).
A Medicare rebate is available for a maximum of five services per patient each calendar year. Additional services are not possible in any circumstances.
The patient will have to pay the difference between the fee charged and the Medicare rebate. Fees will vary between practices and Allied Health providers.
Patients must have a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements prepared by their GP, or be residents of a residential aged care facility who are managed under a multidisciplinary care plan.
Referrals to allied health providers must be from GPs.
Allied health providers must report back to the referring GP.
A chronic medical condition is one that has been (or is likely to be) present for six months or longer, for example, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions and stroke. There is no list of eligible conditions. However, the CDM items are designed for patients who require a structured approach and to enable GPs to plan and coordinate the care of patients with complex conditions requiring ongoing care from a multidisciplinary team.
Patients have complex care needs if they need ongoing care from a multidisciplinary team consisting of their GP and at least two other health or care providers.
If you feel that you may be eligible for services under a CDM/EPC we recommend you discuss your needs with your GP.
You are entitled to choose who you are referred to for any services allocated under a CDM/EPC and can ask to be referred to any provider who accepts CDM/EPC’s.
If you are unsure about how to access these services please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be able to provide you with further information.