FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Fort Carson physicians, nurses, clinicians and administrative health care professionals participated in a three-day professional development seminar at the Army Wellness Center Sept. 15-17.
The program, known as "Move to Health," was facilitated by U.S. Army Medical Command (USAMC) and was designed to provide holistic approaches to health care that professionals can share with their patients.
"It was inspiring to say the least," said Lt. Col. Robert Price, 4th Infantry Division surgeon. "It reminded me of the reason I went into family medicine. We treat not only the whole patient but the whole family and the culture in which the family lives. That's what this program is about."
The instructional team included Lt. Col. Robert Oh, physician lead for the Army's System for Health program, and Lt. Col. Tamara Funari, nurse lead for System for Health. They took participants through a countless number of lessons and activities, which included yoga, tai chi, relaxation exercises and mindful meditation.
"Nationally, our health care system is kind of broken," Oh said. "We focus too much on disease. We ask, 'What disease do you have?' and then give the patient a pill. So, the whole idea behind this program is to help transform our system from a health care system to a system for health, where we promote health and wellness."
Oh and Funari are traveling the country, spreading the message. They've visited 10 military installations in the past six months and have focused their activities around balancing the eight elements of self care, which include the Performance Triad (sleep, activity and nutrition) along with the five strength elements of the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program (social, emotional, family, spiritual and physical).
"The Army surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, has been talking about this campaign as reaching the patients in their life space," Funari said. "It's about empowering and engaging patients to take accountability and responsibility for their wellness with the support of their health care team."
Discovering new ways to engage patients was Price's biggest takeaway. He said the course emphasized how multidisciplinary health care teams can customize health plans for individuals and Families.
"The idea is to provide resources, not just pills," Price said. "We need to provide lifestyle changes and resources like the Army Wellness Center so that patients can be motivated to make that change and help themselves with whatever their health care issue may be."
The USAMC team knows that such grand ideas are often greeted by skepticism, especially in a seminar-type environment. That's one reason they try to keep the course as active and engaging as possible.
"Attendees often come into this program not knowing what it's going to be about," Funari said. "It's great to see the transformation from day one when they're thinking, 'I don't know if we're going to have time for this,' to the last day when they're saying, 'I can't wait to implement this.'"
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