Active Living Program News
Steven N. Blair, PED, Promotes Lifestyle Change to Medical Community
Steven N. Blair, PED, co-author of Active Living Every Day, was the keynote speaker at the April 21 – 22 Preventive Cardiology Symposium, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison. Addressing crowds of almost 200 people each in two presentations, Blair informed physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals of research-proven methods shown to prevent heart disease through lifestyle changes, such as those taught in Active Living Every Day.
A dynamic speaker, Blair entertained and educated throughout both talks. In the keynote address to kick off the symposium, “Physical Inactivity: Public Enemy #1”, Blair described the individual and public health risks of inactivity. He then explained how lifestyle physical activity can effectively reduce those trends and combat obesity.
Later in the morning, Blair shared ideas for motivating people to change their behaviors in “Getting Your Patients Moving”. He discussed Project Active, the research Blair and others conducted to determine the effectiveness of lifestyle behavior change strategies in helping people become more active. “People who embrace and use these behavioral strategies are successful in changing their behaviors over the long term,” he said.
Blair explained how small changes every day can make a difference in activity levels. “There are ways to build less sitting and more moving into daily activities,” he stated. “If you’ve got a mobile phone and need to make a ten minute call, walk around the hospital while you’re talking.” Everyone can find sedentary activities in their daily routines that can be made more active. “It’s individual; what works for me may not work for you. Try different approaches to find what works,” said Blair.
The unique approach of Active Living Every Day gives people a proven, practical way to become more active—and stay that way. “It’s just a different way of getting health professionals and the public to think about physical activity,” Blair said in his presentation. Active Living Every Day has been researched and proven to impact real health risks.
The Preventive Cardiology Symposium aimed to help attendees understand the relationship between physical inactivity and heart disease, and discover strategies for getting patients to become more physically active. Terese Bailey, conference coordinator, said “We were excited about all the speakers for the conference. Participants want to hear what these professionals have to say. We’ll be back in two years.”
The Active Living Partners staff helps the medical community, worksites, colleges and universities, and a wide variety of other organizations to improve health in their communities and businesses. Please contact Active Living Partners to find out how you can offer our behavior change programs. Call us at 800-747-4457 ext 2522 or send an e-mail to michellem@hkusa.com.
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