For 20 years, Dr. Harry Oken has heard patients? spout excuses like these for not joining a gym. Among the excuses: “I meant to call.” “I plan on joining next week.” “I will call tomorrow.”
Now, Oken, a Columbia internist and medical director for the Columbia Association, is trying to make it easier for those living more sedentary lifestyles to change their behavior.
Through the CA?s Fit Beginnings program, patients meet with a CA fitness specialist twice a week for 60 days to design a fitness program. Participants are referred by their doctors and pay a fee for the program, part of which is credited at the end of the program.
“The hope is that by getting them in there and starting this process, we will make this a new habit,” Oken said, adding the program is “very progressive.”
Physicians fax a form referring a patient, who then is contacted by someone from CA to set up the appointments.
“To us, this is a segment of the community we have never really reached out to before,” said Rob Goldman, CA vice president and director of the Sport and Fitness Division.
Fit Beginnings is the first program to result from the resurrected medical advisory board, which was created to help develop health programs under Oken?s guidance. Oken joined CA about six months ago to advise the organization on its health and sports facilities.
“It?s important that our fitness programs have a solid medical foundation,” Goldman said.
Eating right, exercising and reducing stress are at the heart of healthy living, Oken said. This program gives doctors a way to encourage their patients to work toward those goals, whether they attend a CA facility or another gym, he said.
There is a growing awareness in the medical community that regular exercise is crucial to preventing and combating disease, Goldman said.
The county?s recently unveiled health access program includes health coaches, which guide participants on healthy living, such as preparing low-fat meals. Overcoming these barriers may help improve the health of the community and reduce health care costs, according to the Health Department.
