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Benefits of the Wellness Program at Meritus Total Rehab Care

Our Wellness Program bridges the gap between the healthcare and fitness industries, offering affordable, semi-supervised fitness programs for people at ALL fitness levels. Wellness programs can be done on land or in water, or a combination of both. Total Rehab Care’s professionals can help create an exercise plan for you.

In this podcast  Lisa Allshouse, PTA, discusses our wellness program and how our sole purpose is to enhance the health, well-being and physical performance of our members by providing high quality effective exercise, wellness, and physical therapy programs.
Featured Speaker:
Lisa Allshouse, PTA
Lisa Allshouse has been a PTA at Meritus for 26 years. She has certifications in Lymphedema and Ergonomics. Her special interests include orthopedics, aquatics, pediatrics and wellness. She enjoys working out and encourages others to take control of their health.
Transcription:
Benefits of the Wellness Program at Meritus Total Rehab Care

Melanie Cole: Total Rehab Care at Meritus Health helps patients overcome health challenges and return to the life and activities they enjoy through our wellness programs and outpatient therapies. My guest today is Lisa Allshouse. She's a physical therapist assistant at Meritus Total Rehab Care. What is the wellness program through Total Rehab Care?

Lisa Allshouse, PTA: Our wellness program is a program that is a comprehensive health initiative. It's designed for people to maintain or improve their well-being through exercises, stress management, diet and illness prevention. Our wellness program bridges the gap between healthcare and the fitness industries. It offers affordable, semi-supervised fitness programs for people at all fitness levels and our sole purpose is to enhance the health, the well-being and the physical performance of our members by providing a high quality and effective exercise program. Our members have the opportunity to use the gym, the pool and massage therapist or they can even combine all of these.

Melanie: How is it different than a regular gym?

Lisa: It is different from a regular gym because you have to join. We have therapists that will supervise the program that the person is in and it allows them to set up exercises that are good for their body.

Melanie: Is there an evaluation process involved?

Lisa: There is an evaluation process involved. Basically, a person comes in and has an interest in a wellness program, so we set up an hour and go over the different machines that we have. We allow them to pick out some exercises that would be good for them and we encourage them on how to do those exercises correctly.

Melanie: Give some examples of how these wellness activities contribute to improving a patient’s health. Tell us about some of them.

Lisa: Wellness activities can improve your current and future health. The components of the wellness activities can build muscular, cardiovascular strength, they can increase your endurance and your flexibility. Exercise and massage can decrease pain, anxiety, and depression and they can improve your quality of sleep, your joint mobility, your circulation and generally your overall well-being. That's just a few of the positive benefits.

Melanie: Who can join?

Lisa: Anyone can join. We have current and previous patients as well as anyone else that’s just looking to improve their health.

Melanie: Tell us about some of the specifics; the hours, the location and such.

Lisa: The gym is open for members Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and then Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The pool is open for wellness members, various hours, Monday through Saturday, and they could always obtain a schedule from a front office. Our address would be 1110 Medical Campus Road and we’re in suite 201.

Melanie: Tell us about the gym. People see this equipment and it can be a little intimidating for some people. What kind of equipment do you have and do you teach people to use it?

Lisa: We have NuSteps, we have various types of ellipticals and stationary bikes, there are bikes for just the arms, total gym, multi-gyms, there are all kinds of resistive equipment, we have mats and there are also parallel bars they can use while they're here. It gives them a variety of things that they can use to improve their health.

Melanie: Tell us about the pool area. What amenities are available there?

Lisa: The pool is a 20 x 40 foot pool that is 3 ½ to 5 ½ feet deep and it’s kept at about 92 degrees, so it’s really warm. The warmth of the water is relaxing to work in. You have the buoyancy, which decreased the stress level on your joints, you have the compression of the water that helps with any kind of swelling, so these natural properties of the water make it easier to move and they provide some resistance for strengthening. We have a couple arthritis classes, we have maintenance swims, they're scheduled throughout the week, and we also have various resistive and floating equipment available to use with your self-guided exercises.  

Melanie: Tell us how massage therapy is considered part of a wellness program. We all know it feels good, but is it also really good for you?

Lisa: It is really good for you. When you receive massage therapy, you decrease stress and pain. Anxiety and depression often benefit from this. You decrease muscle tension, you enhance the muscle performance and it also enhances your sleep. It increases your cardiovascular health and your range of motion. It really positively affects your whole overall well-being and your overall wellness.

Melanie: Just tell us how someone enrolls in the TRC wellness program and what's involved.

Lisa: The easiest thing to do is to call Meritus Total Rehab Care to set up a wellness evaluation for the gym and then you come in during that time and we’ll talk to you about how to use all the machinery and what exercises are best for you. If you're interested in the aquatic program, picking up a packet at Total Rehab Care at Robinwood, it’s in the red entrance, suite 201, and the packet includes the aquatic information and the required paperwork that you have to do to be able to participate in that.

Melanie: Wrap it up for us. Tell us about your team and those of you that work at Total Rehab Care with Meritus Health.

Lisa: We're very committed to our patients achieving a positive experience. We want them to be able to do physical activity and enjoy it again and strengthening, so we really work on all that and everybody is definitely committed to helping the patients and the members of the wellness program.

Melanie: It’s wonderful that everyone at Total Rehab Care is committed to patients achieving a positive experience and physical end results. You're listening to Your Health Matters with Meritus Health. For more information, please visit meritushealth.com. That’s meritushealth.com. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.