The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) announced today their partnership with the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine (ILM); a division of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. IHRSA and ILM join together to fight the global obesity epidemic by working to improve physician knowledge of the science and benefits of physical activity, and to increase the practice of physician-prescribed exercise.
“Our partnership with the ILM couldn’t be more timely, as exercise and preventive medicine are poised to play an integral role in the health care reform debate on the horizon,”’ said Joe Moore, IHRSA’s President and CEO. “We are thrilled to be working in conjunction with the ILM to increase awareness of the benefits of physical activity within the medical community and to ultimately have this message communicated back to patients.”
Dr. Edward M. Phillips, the director of ILM, is also a member of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and is one of 13 Task Force members working on the American Medical Association and ACSM joint-initiative called Exercise is Medicine; which calls for physicians to treat physical activity as a vital part of their patients’ overall health. He also co-authored ACSM's Exercise is Medicine: A Clinician's Guide to Exercise Prescription. According to Phillips, Exercise is Medicine encourages physicians to assess physical activity levels in patients and to “prescribe” exercise as appropriate.
“The ILM is very pleased to be working together with IHRSA on likeminded initiatives, such as preventive medicine through physical activity”, said Dr. Phillips. “We are looking forward to the Active Doctors, Active Patients course coming up in the fall, which will provide tools to help physicians understand how to work with and motivate their patients to exercise. The ILM is grateful for IHRSA’s support.”
Additional information about the Active Doctors, Active Patients conference can be found at www.activedoctors.org.
A member of Partners HealthCare, The Spaulding Network includes its main campus, a 196-bed facility, located in Boston, MA, and eight outpatient sites throughout the Greater Boston area. Spaulding is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School as well as the official rehabilitation hospital of the New England Patriots. Spaulding is the only rehabilitation hospital in New England continually ranked since 1995 by U.S. News and World Report in its Best Hospitals survey. For more information, please visit www.spauldingrehab.org.
The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine is a not-for-profit educational organization committed to reducing lifestyle-related disease and mortality through physician-directed intervention. For more information, please visitwww.instituteoflifestylemedicine.org.
IHRSA is a not-for-profit trade association representing health and fitness facilities, gyms, spas, sports clubs, and suppliers worldwide. The association’s membership includes more than 9,750 clubs in 78 countries, along with more than 740 industry suppliers. IHRSA is committed to taking a leadership role in advancing physical activity, which is critical to America's health and the battle against obesity and disease. IHRSA supports effective national initiatives to promote more active lifestyles for all Americans and is working to pass laws that will help affect societal changes toward a more fit America.
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May 27 2009
